What to Consider When Evaluating Information from the Internet

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Question: What five aspects would you consider when evaluating information on the internet? The internet can be a great place to find information on various topics but not all documents and pages that are found are valid or factual hence there is a need for careful and critical evaluation of information. Evaluation is the process of examining a system (in this case the internet) to determine the extent to which specified properties are present (Oxford Advanced dictionary). One should consider distinct aspects of data available to see the significance of information. Most websites are self-published with a motive to get one to believe a point of view as a result consider the objectivity of the site, Currency (how recent the information is ), how accurate the information is, authority to publish and if the information is relevant to cover the topic. “Authority is one of the major aspects to consider when evaluating a web page.” Harris (2003). Authority is a person accepted as a source of reliable information as said by the Oxford English Dictionary. In order to see that a site is authorised to publish or disseminate information on a certain subject one has to perform a background check on who the owner of the site is and who permitted publication. For instance when one is thoroughly researching about java programming (one of the crucial engineering courses) one has to confirm whether the author is qualified in the respective subject, who support the ideas and the methodologies adopted. The author should be known or his or her reliability. Contact details should be provided on the web page. If the particulars are provided and made available to everyone, the information can be regarded valuable. Currency refers to the timeliness of information. Currency is not important for all documents. Some resources are static.
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