TERRA COMMUNITY COLLEGE LIBRARY. jaw-2/04

Transcription

1 TERRA COMMUNITY COLLEGE LIBRARY jaw-2/04 1

2 HOW TO ANALYZE URLs 2

3 On the Web, anybody with a little effort can make something absurd seem scientific and believable. They can make it look authoritative when it is not. This vulnerability of the Web is why it is so important to critically evaluate what you find on the public web. 3

4 When you find a web site the first thing to do is examine its URL. The URL is the web address of a site, and it can help tell you what type of site it is and who the author and/or publisher of the web site is. 4

5 DOMAINS A domain represents part of the Internet. Domains are assigned by type, and every URL has one. Example: The.edu is the domain name for Terra 5

6 Notice the URL address 6

7 Examples of some common domains:.com = commercial sites.edu = educational institutions.gov = government agencies.mil = military sites.net = Internet providers and network services.org = nonprofit organizations The.edu,.org and.gov domains usually provide the most authoritative content. The domain will help you determine what type of web site you are looking at. 7

8 Host is the institution or person operating the web server that the site is hosted on. The host name appears after the www and before the domain extension in the URL Notice the host name and domain 8

9 When looking at the host name ask yourself: Have I heard of this organization before? Does the title of the site match or include part of the host name? Does the host have a credible reputation? 9

10 PERSONAL PAGES Personal pages often include: A personal name in the URL. The name often follows a tilde ~. Or follows the words users or members. Look for host names from web hosting services. 10

11 Notice the tilde within the URL even though it is an educational web site 11

12 Notice the name aigp22 in the URL. When you identify a site as a personal one ask yourself who the author is. Personal site Always verify information found on a personal page in other sources before accepting their document as a reliable source. 12

13 COMMERCIAL SITES Commercial sites are easily identified by the.com in the domain. They are created by businesses for marketing purposes, for online sales, and as product guides. While they can be valuable sources of information, watch out for advertisements and sites trying to make a sale

14 NEWS SITES The Internet abounds with current news information from sources like CNN, MS-NBC. The information changes quickly, so the same URL may bring up different information from one day to the next

15 NON-PROFIT SITES Non-profit sites usually have.edu,.gov, or.org in the domain. These sites provide some of the most valuable information available on the Internet. You may find statistical sites from the Bureau of Census, resource guides for teachers, or tutorials on Web page design, as well as the opinions of controversial organizations

16 In general, published information is considered more reliable than what is on the Web. But many, many reputable agencies and publishers make great information available by publishing it on the Web. This applies to most governments, most institutions and societies, many publishing houses and news sources. 16

17 JUST TAKE THE TIME TO CHECK IT OUT AND YOUR RESEARCH WILL BE A CREDIT TO ALL YOUR HARD WORK 17

18 Be very careful to cite your work. If you para-phrase or use direct quotes these MUST be cited. 18

19 Need To Document When you are using or referring to somebody else s words or ideas for a magazine, book, newspaper, song, TV program, movie, Web page, computer program, letter, adverisement, or any other medium 19

20 When you use information gained through interviewing another person. When you copy the exact words or a unique phrase from somewhere. When you reprint any diagrams, illustrations, charts, and pictures When you use ideas that others have given you in conversations or over e- mail. 20

21 No Need To Document When you are writing your own experiences, your own observations, your own insights, your own thoughts, your own conclusions about a subject. When doing this use terms such as In my opinion or Based upon my observation 21

22 When you are using Common knowledge folklore, common sense observations, shared information within your field of study or cultural group. When you are compiling generally accepted facts. When you are writing up your own experimental results. 22

23 IF YOU DID NOT WRITE IT, YOU MUST CITE IT! 23