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Internet Detective A Website Evaluation Web Quest
The same is true of information on the Internet and the World Wide Web. You are surrounded by sites. The information is doubling every 90 days! How can you possibly know everything you need to know about these sites? Some of them have information you can trust. But some are outdated, inaccurate, biased, or misleading. Can you tell which is which just by looking?
Not necessarily. A Web site that looks good may have bad information and a Web site that looks bad may contain very valuable information. So first glance doesn't always tell an accurate story.
When the Internet was new, scientists used it for e-mail and bulletin boards (posting of messages). All the sites on the Internet were black text on a gray or white background. They looked very plain, but they had the most up-to-date information at the time. Today, of course, the sites are much more elaborate. The World Wide Web makes color, sound, animation, and other special effects possible. Anyone with a computer (even you!) can create a sophisticated Web site in just a few minutes.
That causes a problem. How can we tell whether the site we're visiting was created by someone reliable and not by someone who is trying to mislead us? When we visit a Web site on scientific information, how can we tell if an expert created it or just some kid down the block?
In this Web Quest, you will examine different ways to judge the quality of a Web site. By the time you finish, you will have some valuable skills in judging the quality of information not only on a Web site, but also in books, magazines, on the radio and on television. Click here and begin the journey! |
Imagine
this: you're standing in the middle of New York City, it's nighttime and a
crime has been committed. You are the detective assigned to the case and you
need information. Can you tell who did it by just glancing at the scene?
Of course not.
