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11555 Old Oregon Trail * PO Box 496006 * Redding, CA 96049-6006 |
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11555 Old Oregon Trail * PO Box 496006 * Redding, CA 96049-6006 |
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Website Evaluation:
The Good, the Bad, &
the Ugly
Books are often the resource of choice when you're after comprehensive
coverage of an issue. A quick glance at a book's title page and jacket
will afford you a title, place and date of publication, author bio and
credentials, and even some reviews. Examine the preface, table of
contents, index, and bibliography and you begin to gauge the volume's strengths,
shortcomings, and bias. But many important topics, especially those
of a local nature, don't have the large readership that economically justifies
publication of an entire book. Other stories are too current to be
well represented by the mainstream press (there's a lag of at least nine
months between a book's completion and its publication). For these stories,
the Internet, where publishing is inexpensive, instantaneous, and simple,
is heaven sent. But when anyone can publish anything, finding the
right site among the billions and evaluating the information contained
in that site requires a healthy measure of skepticism.
This
task is further complicated because the Internet is a medium where the
author also serves as editor and publisher. The helpful publication information
taken for granted in print books and magazines is often hidden or missing
from webpages. Determining bias and reliability requires some detective
work and much critical thinking. The Shasta College librarians recommend
that each website visited be scrutinized for:
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URL: http://library.shastacollege.edu/webevaluation.html
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Updated: 11/17/04