Professor Mary T. Conway--  former point guard for the NBA’s Miami Heat – Teaching NOW at CCP![i]

 

When I have a question, my 1^st move is to “Google” it. That is, I type some key terms into the very reliable search engine www.google.com, and wait for the TRUTH to reveal itself. 

 

Well, it’s not really that easy, is it? Since we are increasingly dependent upon web sources for our information, and since this dependence saves us time, gas, and shoe leather (not to mention the fact that you can research at 3am in your living room) – we have to become EXPERTS!  The only other option is to be duped repeatedly. It’s not just a slogan: Knowledge IS power.

 

Consider: in minutes, I could put up a web page “documenting” my long and illustrious career in the NBA. The unsuspecting web browser would see this and remark, “Fascinating! I didn’t know my English professor used to lead the league in assists!” I didn’t, but the webpage would say otherwise.

 

This assignment is designed to provide you with the tools you need to “suss” out such shenanigans.

 

First, though, I want to show you how crucial this is. Obviously, I wasn’t in the NBA. But other lies are more difficult to detect, are often couched in official language, and hide hateful intent.

 

Go to these 2 sites: 

 

Would you use this as a reliable source for information about Dr. King?

http://www.martinlutherking.org/

 

 

Would you use this as a reliable source for US executive branch news?

http://www.whitehouse.org/

 

NOW that you’re outraged, let’s hone your skills with this excellent University of California at Berkeley webpage on assessing internet sources.

 

(Reading) STEP ONE: Read this guide

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html

 

(Writing) STEP TWO:

Using Google, find two promising webpages relating to YOUR TOPIC for the TWO UPCOMING RESEARCH-BASED SPEECHES. 

Do not use ENCYCLOPEDIAS of any kind, but especially not Wikipedia. These are too short, shallow and unreliable for college level research.

 

Then apply this checklist (below) to evaluate  the webpages, using the checklist.

Post your 20 answers to Discussion Board folder titled Webpage Assessment, on MyCCP .

You may copy and paste this list of Qs into your word processor to make it neater. 

 

Write the ENTIRE web address HERE:

 

1. What type of site is it – what is the ending of the URL? What does that mean for the reliability of the site?

 

2. Who is the author? What are the author’s credentials? Is the author an institution? Is it an institution with a suspect agenda?

 

3. Who published the page?

 

4. Does the site have ads? Is the primary purpose of the site to sell you something? If so, does this effect the site’s veracity?

 

5. When was the site last updated? Is this an automatic update by a webmaster, or has the content actually changed?

 

6. Is there proof of the claims on the page? Does the site reference other sources? Are there live links to other sources?

 

7. Given your answers to the above questions, is the information reliable?

 

8. What are 2 essential pieces of information you gleaned from the site, which you did not know previously?

 

9. * (Optional) How does the fake MLKing site effect how you read this webpage?

 

10. *(Optional) Use http://alexa.com  from the Berkeley site (above) to assess how much traffic the site receives. How does this knowledge influence your evaluation of the site?