A brief slide show teaching online users how to evaluate sources using simple tools. Created as a supplement for a unit plan on evaluating online sources for a course in instruction design for information professionals at San Jose State University, SLIS Spring 2012.

1. Untangling the Web:
Making Sense of Online Sources
A User's Guide to
(Smarter )
Online Searching

2. What's in a (domain) name?
.com
Generic domain name (originally intended for commercial
organizations)
.edu
Educational site only for accredited post-secondary educational
organizations
.gov
Content owned by the government
.net
Generic domain name, no distinction from .com (originally intended
for websites associated with network technologies)
.org
Generic domain name, no distinction from .com (originally intended
for non-profit organizations)

3. Where to Start?
Let's conduct a simple Google search on...

4. Lets Take a Closer Look...
Top Results:
1. Paid Ad:
-barackobama.com
2. Official Site:
-barackobama.com
3. Barack Obama News:
-”First Female President”???
4. Wikipedia Entry

5. Is the First Site Always the Best Site?
Barackobama.com
-Is this site appropriate if I were
searching for biographical
information?
-Political information?
-Past speeches?
Use caution when selecting the
number one site from your search
results. Just because it's the first
site, doesn't mean it will give you
the information you are seeking...

6. Wikipedia.com
History
-Look for how many times the page
has been edited
-Scan the content for information that
actually makes sense
-Scroll down and take a look at the
notes, references, and external
links. See how many are .org, .gov
and .com
-Find the “last revised” date.
Does it seem like a credible site?

7. What's IPL.ORG?
IPL.ORG is a website
designed by reference
librarians to assist
online user in finding
relevant information.

8. How to search IPL.ORG
IPL has a variety of
resources for users of
all ages. They have
recommended
sources for children
and teens, as seen
here------->

9. Searching for information by subject...
Let's continue our
research on Barack
Obama and look for
biographical
information.
Look at the “Special
Collections” link.
There's an entire
section on presidents!

10. Evaluating IPL.ORG
It's good practice to use
your website
evaluation tools even
with recommended
sites, like this one.
Let's take a look at the
information, references
and copyright date...

11. Let's review the evaluation tools...
Whether conducting a Look for these things:
Google, Wikipedia or - the type of domain name:
librarian recommended
search, be sure to use .com, .net, .edu., .gov
your evaluation tools to -author/organization's
inspect the site for name
perspective, bias, - who's responsible for the
content?
authority and content!
-copyright, revision date
-Does the information
sound right? Can you tell
there is an obvious bias to
the content? Are resources
and references listed?

12. Go forth and untangle the web!