[MUSIC] In the last lesson, we looked at six factors to consider when critically evaluating information resource. In this lesson, we'll look at some additional factors to consider when using web resources in your assignments. This will help you make sure that your assignments meet the highest level of academic credibility. So the first thing you can do is, look for the publisher. Who is responsible for the information? Because web pages and their information often don't name the author, it becomes more important to consider who the organization or group responsible for the information is. One key way to find this out is by looking at the URL. If the URL doesn't have a country code, such as .au or .uk, that means it's located in the US. In addition, the domain of the URL is also revealing. For example, if the domain is .edu, this will be an education website administered by a school or a university. .gov are government sites, including local councils or federal government departments. .mil are US military sites. In these cases, the use of the websites is restricted to those organizations and the publisher is easily identifiable. In contrast, domains such as .com, .org, or .net are meant to be restricted to noncommercial sites, nonprofit organizations, and networks, respectively. But, in fact, they can be used by anyone. Therefore, identifying the publisher may be a bit difficult for these sites. This is not true for all such sites though. So on top of asking what the domain is, we also need to ask if the publisher is easily identifiable, and if they're credible and known outside of the Internet. The second thing we need to evaluate is the purpose of the web resource. Can you identify a goal of the web site? Who is it intended for? And does it appear to have a bias? Is the site used to sell a product or service, or is the purpose to disseminate information? Sometimes it can be difficult to tell the difference between the two. Also, you'll need to decide what kind of information is presented, facts or opinions. You may also notice that it appears to be aimed at a particular audience, for example, a particular demographic or interest group. Which may influence the information and the way it's presented. Finally, when deciding on the purpose of the web source, you should see if the website is sponsored and if so by whom. Be careful there though, because sponsorship does not always equal bias. For example, a webpage sponsored by a university or similar institution could be quite credible. However, a web page sponsored by a well known brand might be a bit suspect. The third thing to look at is the aesthetic of the web source. In this case, looks count. Bad graphics, confusing formatting, eye hurting colors, and unnecessary, over the top animations can indicate that a website is not credible. Bad grammar, spelling mistakes, pictures that won't load, or broken links are also warning signs for credibility. Questions we can ask here include, are the design and the images of good quality? Is the writing well organized? And is the writing grammatically accurate? And is there a site map or index? Now the final thing to consider is referencing, and we can ask two questions here. Are the sources cited? And does it link with other reputable sites? While not as fundamental as in other text forms, websites that reference their ideas and link to other websites tend to be more credible than those that don't. So to sum up, when you're evaluating web resources for their reliability, don't forget to use the other six criteria that we covered in lesson 3.1A. Use those criteria for all information sources. But on top of those, for those resources you find on the web, try also using the criteria that we've covered in the lesson today. [MUSIC]
