Exploring the Internet:

Researching & Evaluating the Web

Week 12

What we will be covering today

Learn strategies for conducting effective online research
Methods of assessing the credibility of websites
How to avoid plagiarism by correctly citing sources

3 Key Factors of Surfing the Web

1. Search

2. Strategy

3. Safety

Search Engine

Search Strategies

Online Rules

Keywords

Research Questions

*refer to Safety Dos

Results Page

Extract Keywords

and Donts on the

Efficient Search

Use Synonyms

Web handout

Boolean Search

Record Results

For successful, efficient, and safe exploration of the Web, use targeted keywords, write
research questions, and be cautious about what you share and where you go online.

Assessing Credibility

Credibility = trustworthiness and

reliability of content before taking is as
the truth.
Informational vs Corporate Websites
Informational: usually offers
credible content to users
Corporate: sometimes presents
inaccurate information to sell
something
REMEMBER: if an online offer
seems too good to be true, it
probably is NOT!

Just because something is online doesnt make

it true. Dont believe everything you read.

Evaluating a Websites Credibility

1.

Author
a.
b.

2.

Date
a.
b.

3.

When was the website published or

updated?
Look for copyright info at bottom of page

5.

What is the purpose of the site?

Is it to sell, inform, or discuss?

URL
a.
b.

Contact
a.
b.

Purpose
a.
b.

4.

Who is the author or publisher of the

website?
Refer to the About page

6.

Fact vs Opinion
c.

What does the URL look like?

Determine if you are viewing a personal
website or blog, government website, etc

Is contact information available?

Ex: phone numbers, email and/or mailing
addresses

d.

Is the author writing from experience,

using experts and research to discuss
ideas, or simply giving an opinion?
Bias = a prejudice for or against something

Common Website URLs

.gov

Websites ending with

this domain can be
trusted to provide
credible:

Statistics

Information

Articles

Government
News
Examples:

www.usa.gov

www.census.gov

www.epa.gov

.org

.edu

Websites ending
with this domain
can be offer
credible:

Data

School
Operations

Research
Findings
Examples:

www.ccsu.edu
Caution: may
contain inaccurate
information or bias

Websites ending with

this domain can provide:

Credible Info

Advertisements

Services/Products
Examples:

www.wikipedia.org

www.craigslist.org

www.heart.org
Caution: may contain
inaccurate information or
bias

.net, .com, .biz

Websites ending with this

domain are questionable

Corporate sites

Exceptions:

newspapers

magazines

organizations
Examples:

www.google.com

www.comcast.net

www.radian.biz
Caution: may contain
inaccurate information or
bias

Who Owns All That Information?

Sources = media that provided the information you used to write your
paper or other written content.

Copyrighted = the ideas and words used to convey them belong to the
original author.

Bibliography = a list of the sources used

Commonly found on the last slide or page or a project or paper

Citations

Citation = an entry in a bibliography

Must include a citation for every source used

Examples: websites, newspapers, books

MLA (Modern Language Association) = a style/format

used to cite sources used in schools,
publishing, and in humanities.

Works Cited Page = the MLA bibliography

page name

Plagiarism
You ARE plagiarizing if you do any of the
following things:
1.
2.

3.

Use a sources exact words as your

own
Change a few words in a sources
sentence and use the sentence as your
own
Borrow the structure of a source
a.

Example: if an authors essay is

organized into Parts A, B, and C, and you
do the same, you are plagiarizing.

4.

Present a sources idea(s) as your own

Avoiding Plagiarism
1.

2.

3.

As you conduct research and take notes,

record citations for your sources and
indicate which of your notes goes with
which of your sources.
Write down all of the URLs you visit, or
bookmark them in your Web browser, so
that you can revisit them later if needed.
Read all of your sources and then put
them aside as you write your OWN paper.
This way, you will be less likely to use the
wording that your sources used.

Your work should always be 100%

yours, and your sources should
always be cited.