Name:
Sara Shutkin
Title: Archivist/Reference Librarian
Institution: Alverno College Library
Street Address: 3400 South 43rd Street
City/State/Zip: Milwaukee, WI 53234
Phone: 414-382-6202
Email: sara.shutkin@alverno.edu
Fax: 414-382-6354
Title of practice of implementation method: Evaluating Web Sites
Primary Audience: Intermediate; undergraduate students in a 200-level
Professional Communication class
Secondary Audience:
Describe the practice:
I typically use this exercise with a 200-level Professional Communication
class, but I’ve used a similar exercise with a couple of other intermediate
level classes. This
class has an assignment to do research for a persuasive speech. One instructor
of this class has her students focus on communication-related topics.
The instructor of the other section allows her students to have a broader
choice. In advance of the class, I find a large number of Web sites (many
of questionable value e.g. “Feline Reactions to Bearded Men”
http://www.improbable.com/airchives/classical/cat/cat.html ; “Feminists
Against Censorship” http://www.fiawol.demon.co.uk/FAC/ ; “Exploring
Nonverbal Communication” http://zzyx.ucsc.edu/~archer/ ; etc.). I
write the Web site name and URL on little slips of paper and put them
in an envelope. Students are given a handout on “Evaluating Web Sites”
that we go over as a group. Then the class is divided into small groups
of 3 or 4 students. Each group selects a Web site slip from the envelope
and is given an instruction sheet with questions to be answered while
viewing the Web site. After about 10 or 15 minutes the students return
to the larger group for a debriefing. Make sure that each group has a
chance to report on their findings. The discussion will flow naturally
and they will have learned a good lesson about the Web.
TIPS: Try and have more Web site examples ready than you think you’ll
need (at class time a site might not be working and a group may need to
select another one). As close to the class time as possible, check the
sites to make sure they are still working.
Give students some
criteria to follow when evaluating Web sites. I
have students answer the following questions (which are on their instruction
sheet) when looking at their group’s Web site:
1. Who’s Web site is it? (author)
2. Do they have an agenda?
3. Is the site accurate/legitimate? Up-to date?
4. Would you use it as a source for your speech?
Walk around and assist
students as they are doing the exercise. (I do this in our Reference room
instruction area and then the students use the workstations in that room;
it could be done easily wherever there is access to multiple workstations).
Competencies
addressed through this practice:
6. Critically evaluate the information retrieved.
Supporting materials/resources used and their format: "Evaluating
Web Resources" - A handout by Jenny Schmidt
that outlines criteria for evaluating web sites.
Special Requirements: None
References consulted: None. I think I got the idea from the ACRL
preconference on Library Instuction using the Web
held in Chicago in June, 2000.
Handout
- pdf
[Back to Best Practice Examples] [Info Lit Committee Home]
URL: http://www.wla.lib.wi.us/waal/infolit/Shutkin.htm
Revised:
December 17, 2002
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