Week 4 & 5 Discussion 1 & 2

This week you are asked to find and evaluate web pages because there are no

real uniformity in the way that web pages are set up it could be hard to find

some of the information you need to evaluate them this become especially

true when it comes to who the author of the web page is so we will

go over a few ways trying to determine that sometimes you find a web page that

fits your research purpose it contains information that answer your research

question and that cites incredible sources but there's no autho

r to be found anywhere what do you do look at the top of the web page to fi=

nd the name or logo of organization or a businessYou might also see the name or logo of a

government agency you can also look at the very bottom of the webpage posted by or

sponsored by also look at the address bar or URL and zero in on the beginning that part that

ends in. Com . org .net edu or. Gov that part of the web address is called the top level

domain and tells you who own the website dot-com indicates a commercial business or

company . org is a nonprofit organization . edu is it educational Institution . gov is a

government agency And. Net was only meant for internet service providers but now can be

used by anyone the information that comes immediately before .com .net . org . gov . EDU is

the name of the organization business that own the website if you cannot find any indication

individual person as the author then you use the name of the company organization that

owns the website but what if you don't know nothing about that company or organization

how would you know if it's a credible or reliable source of information do you really need to

check it out here's a website about Martin Luther King jr. The website ends with. Org so it's a

nonprofit organization but if you look closer the information it seems off if you look at the

bottom you will see that it hosted by a storm front a white supremacist group So is definitely

not a credible or reliable source on Martin Luther King jr. Most sources would not be so

obviously bias but it is important to check out the source of information you're using When

selecting web pages so how do you check out your sources so if you spot the name or logo at

the top of your webpage clicked on it and I would likely take you to the homepage you can

also put your cursor at the end of the address bar and delete till you come to the top level of

the end of the top level domain b.com. Org. Net. Edu or. Gov and that would take you to the

homepage at the top or maybe the very bottom there's likely a about us button click there

and that should tell you about the organization you can find out what the mission is and if it

gives you unbias informationOn your topic if you are able to locate an author on your

webpage learn a little bit more about the author what is their background do they have any

educational or professional experience that makes them a credible source of the topic that

you're researching it might take a bit of looking around but you can usually find information

on a web page that indicates Authority it is important to know where your information is

coming from so you can determine if it's credible and reliable remember if you have any

questions ask your instructor