KNIGHTLY CHALLENGE #5: Web Site Evaluation

Do you believe that men can have babies?  That Velcro grows on trees?  That animals can be grown with dozens of legs?  No?  Well check out these websites

                                              

                                                                                

http://www.malepregnancy.com/                        http://wneo.org/24hours/ethicselemvelcro.htm               http://www.brookview.karoo.net/Sellafield_Zoo/index.html

Obviously you can’t believe everything you see on the Internet.  But sometimes the inaccuracies are not so obvious.

So lets get CARBS!

Get what? Get CARBS! Who wants those? Well there’s good CARBS and bad CARBS. Does your website have the good ones?  Lets find out. CARBS is the way to decide whether or not an Internet site is a good source. As you know, anyone can put information on the Internet—after all, it’s not rocket science.  You want to know that the information you find is good! Here’s how to use CARBS:

C

CURRENT

Is the information current and up-to-date or outdated?
   

(Check the copyright date!)

A

ACCURACY

Is the information accurate?

   

(Check another source!)

R

RELEVANT

Does this site further my research? In what ways is it relevant to my topic?

B

BIAS

Does this site promote a particular point of view?  What is it?
   

(Is the site sponsored by the government, a university, or other reputable organization?)

S

SOURCE

Who is sponsoring this site?  Is it .org, .gov, .com, .edu, other? Who wrote it? Why is the author qualified to write on this subject? Why should you trust them?
     

Let’s take a look at a couple of websites and see if they contain good or bad CARBS.           

Directions:

 

You did it! Your outstanding evaluation of Internet sites put you ahead of the game but you still have one more challenge ahead.