WEEK 6

TUTORIAL

During this week’s tutorial once visiting the website; http://www.ithaca.edu/library/training/think.html, which has strategies for evaluating the information found in websites we had to briefly describe these strategies in our own words.

TASK:
1) I have gathered that the strategies provided are useful such as knowing whether your source is resourceful and authentic. On this website it provides tips on finding out whether the webpage or source you are using is worthwhile and is providing truthful information and not just someone putting their personal opinions and thoughts on a website.

After this I visited another website which was: http://www.taftcollege.edu/newTC/Academic/INCO48/sec6-4.htm this website also explains how to evaluate internet sources. I discovered this website more useful than the other website as it has much more understanding.
Another website I sited was: http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/eval.html. This website was definitly the best out of all three as why also giving suggestions on how to evaluate it also provides examples of this; it also explains the same information to help me with evaluating.


2) http://kclibrary.nhmccd.edu/decade60.html, after visiting this website I have acknowledged that the precision of this website wasn't satisfying as there wasn’t enough information to support what was presented. It was recently updated but it was created in 1999 which means a significant amount of the information won't be relevant or recent. Another factor would be that considering it was a lecture the information could have also been biased. The sites purpose is to inform people about the sixties. The detail and design is very plain and simple but very accessible and easy to navigate. The information is quite brief mainly using quotes and photos to inform people.
http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/lectures/lecture27.html, this website I went on was a lot more interesting and exciting, the design and detail was a lot more colourful and interesting making me want to read it. I thought the accuracy was not very good as it was last updated 2006 making information not so recent. The author of the page was Susan Goodwin which doesn’t explain who she is but there is contact information to find out more about her. The purpose is to inform people about the American culture of the sixties. The information is quite thorough and interesting also.


3) The third task was to complete the "Reliving the Sixties" website evaluation assignment. We had to choose two websites and then evaluate the authenticity of them using some of this criteria; accuracy, authorship, purpose, detail and design, overall worth.

American Cultural History: 1960 - 1969

Evaluation:
This site is very intriguing; it is an insight into what it was like during the 1960's. It’s very authentic, and it provides a detailed outlook of the lifestyle of those who were present during the 1960's. The accuracy of the website seems to be fair. The information on the site is highly detailed with links to certain pages that verifies the information on the site. The authors seem quite reliable as they are from the Kingwood college library. Furthermore this shows it’s reliability and that it is appropriate, so this would be a good website to visit if you were wanting to inquire about the 1960's, however not all the events of the sixties are included on the page.

Questions:

Do you have adequate reason to believe that the information provided on the website is accurate?
The information on the site is accurate as there are quite a number of links that leads to pages that verifies the information being presented and shown.

Was the page worth visiting? Is this site a high-quality source of information you were looking for?
Yes this site is an excellent and useful source for the information needed, it has a brief introduction of the 1960's and specific information facts about America such as; population, national debt, salary, life expectancy and mortality rate/death rate. It does provide me with all the information that I should have e.g. providing information such as Art and Architecture, Books and Literature, Education, Fashion, Historical Events and Technology, Music, Film, Radio, Television and sports all with the 1960's.

Who are the author(s) and who is responsible for the site? What is their bias?
The author of the site is John R. Henderson and the organization responsible is the Kingwood College Library. Their expertise is critical thinking teaching people how to be critical thinkers. Their bias is they tell the story from their opinion.

Was this page designed for the Web?
This page was designed for the web but also to inform people about what the 1960's lifestyle was like during that time.

A Trip Through The Sixties:

Evaluation:
This website does not seem legitimate as the website appears to present false details. However the accuracy of the information is quite accurate, appropriate and relevant. The site is relatively detailed and has numerous links to different sections and areas of the site. The purpose of the site is to provide information to people looking for information about the 60's. Therefore the site appears to have useful information to be browsed through.

Questions:

Do you have adequate reason to believe that the information provided on the website is accurate?
There are references to other books to verify its authenticity.

Was the page worth visiting? Is this site a high-quality source of information you were looking for?
The site is indeed a good source of information as it provides a number of events and lifestyles of the 1960's. The site is a useful and pleasant page to visit if you want to find out about interesting facts of the 1960's.

Who are the author(s) and who is responsible for the site? What is their bias?
There are no specific authors indicated on the page, however the organization domain name Hippy would be responsible for the site. Generally speaking you can assume their biased due to the way that they call themselves hippy experts, meaning they are telling it from their point of view.

What is the site's purpose?
The purpose of the site is to provide information about the events and lifestyles of the 1960's.

Was this page designed for the Web?
The page was designed for the web and also to provide vital information about the events and everyday lifestyles of the people living in the 60's.

LECTURE

This week’s lecture had information involving "evaluation and authentication". The lecturer discussed true and false information as well as any issues or information involving the 'www', World Wide Web. Such information discussed that concerned the World Wide Web was the history of it and what it means in today’s society. Main issue discussed was Evaluating IQ on the 'www'. Overall the lecture was based on whether we as students can identify if a webpage is resourceful and authentic or not. In order to know if it is or not, you must consider background information ont he website and the author itself. Also by just scanning and browsing through the page to see if the information seems safe and useful.