Analyzing Sources
There are two main parts to analyzing websites:
1) Know where you are going by understanding Parts of a URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
http://www.cfalls.org
http://cfallsmsmediactr.weebly.com
· http: - hypertext transfer protocol – computer language
· www – “World Wide Web”
· cfalls or weebly – domain names
· .org or .com – top level domain names
· cfallsmsmediactr (cfalls ms media ctr) – file name
· Items that come after .com/ are page or file names
Top Level Domains
· .gov – US Government websites
· .mil – US Military websites
· .edu – higher education in the United States– usually colleges and universities
2) Be a super sleuth and be confident of your source and it's information. Ask yourself the following questions. It's called WWWWWH
Who
WWWWWH too hard to remember? Try the DRAMA method?
DRAMA Slide Show
DRAMA Checklist for Validating Sources
1) Know where you are going by understanding Parts of a URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
http://www.cfalls.org
http://cfallsmsmediactr.weebly.com
· http: - hypertext transfer protocol – computer language
· www – “World Wide Web”
· cfalls or weebly – domain names
· .org or .com – top level domain names
· cfallsmsmediactr (cfalls ms media ctr) – file name
· Items that come after .com/ are page or file names
Top Level Domains
· .gov – US Government websites
· .mil – US Military websites
· .edu – higher education in the United States– usually colleges and universities
2) Be a super sleuth and be confident of your source and it's information. Ask yourself the following questions. It's called WWWWWH
Who
- Who is the author or editor, is their contact information listed?
- What are his/her credentials? (Do they have a degree/experience etc.?)
- Who do they work for?
- What is the name of the source?
- What does the URL/location of source tell you?
- When was the source created or last updated?
- Is the information up-to-date?
- Where did the author get their information?
- Are sources (citations/bibliography) included?
- Where can you verify this information?
- Why is the author writing this?
- Is the information fact or opinion?
- Is the website attempting to sell something?
- Is there a company sponsoring the site?
- If so what is their purpose?
- How does this compare to what you already know?
- How does this compare to sites you know are factual?
WWWWWH too hard to remember? Try the DRAMA method?
DRAMA Slide Show
DRAMA Checklist for Validating Sources