How To Tell Good Web Sites from the Bad?

 It's a Jungle Out There!

How do students distinguish good web sites from bad ones?  If students are using a subscription database (with passwords), they know that the information is reliable.  But what if they want to quickly use a web site to gather additional information?  How can they tell if the web site is reliable?

Attached to this post is a PowerPoint presentation (saved in PDF) called "It's a Jungle Out There!"--How to tell good web sites from bad web sites.  There are eight critical skills that students can use to distinguish the good from the bad.  They should be able to determine all the attributes below by just browsing through the web site.

It's a Jungle Out There!

1) Who sponsors the web site?

2) Who wrote the material on the site?

3) How much information is provided?

4) Is the information balanced?

5) Is is well written?

6) When was it last updated?

7) Does it list reliable sources?

8) Is the site easy to use? 

Feel free to use this PowerPoint with your students.  You are welcome to link to it from your own web page.