What else can you suggest?

The case of the false Whitehouse

At a quick glance, which of these URLs represents the seat of the US executive?

• http://www.whitehouse.org/
• http://www.whitehouse.gov/

Fake information on the Web

Unlike in print, on the Internet it is not hard to create information that appears to be genuine and reliable.

For example:

• GenoChoice: http://www.genochoice.com/
• Di Hydrogen Monoxide: http://www.dhmo.org/
• California's Velcro crop: http://www.umbachconsulting.com/miscellany/velcro.html

Web evaluation criteria

Relevance/usefulness of information

How relevant or useful is the information for the purpose for which we are seeking it?

Is the information current?

Does the site give a date of update? Can you test the information against other sources, look up events that you know occurred recently?

Is the information on the site accurate?

It pays to cross check several sources.

What is the height of Aoraki/Mt Cook? Compare:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mt_Cook
• http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Aorangi.html

It is also worth looking at whether the site helps you to verify the information. Does the source offer independent verification, such as links or citations?

Why has this document been put on web?

Is it to provide information, advocacate a point of view, advertise a product? Is there a bias? Is the bias stated?

Compare these two pages:

• New Zealand beer http://www.lion-nathan.co.nz/Great-Brands/NZ-Beer.aspx
• Alcohol.org.nz http://www.alcohol.org.nz/

What is the real purpose of this site?

• http://www.rtmark.com/luft/

Who links to the site, and why?

It can be useful to see who makes links to the site. Several search engines allow you to do this. For example, Google has the link: command.

Try to see who links to http://martinlutherking.org by searching Google with the search

link:www.martinlutherking.org

Compare this with the types of links made to:

http://www.thekingcenter.org/

What organisation/person is behind site?

Expertise? Real organisation (physical location, range of contact details)? domain name/URL?

It is especially important to critically evaluate a page that you have found directly through search engine, without going through the home page of the site. It's important to establish the context of the page. Sources of information:

• Sections labelled "about", "contacts" on site
• Check/strip back URL, e.g. http://www.sim.vuw.ac.nz/mfat/vietnam/ to http://www.sim.vuw.ac.nz/ or http://www.vuw.ac.nz/
• Owner of domain name - check http://www.internic.net/whois.html

Who owns the domain for http://www.martinlutherking.org/ ?

Other evaluation criteria

• Does the site appear professional: what is the visual appearance, is spelling and grammar good?
• How user friendly is the site, is it easy to navigate?
• Does the site respect the privacy of the user: Is there a policy on how information gathered by the site is used?
• Does the site respect copyright?
• Is there a cost associated with using the site? For example subscription costs, providing marketing information, watching advertising?