Why is it important for you to know how to evaluate Web resources?
Overview of Online Materials: The Internet
Overview of Online Materials: The Resources
Search Engines, Meta-Search Engines, and Subject-Based Search Engines
Things to Remember About Search Engines, Meta-Search Engines, and Subject Directories
Problems with Websites, Example 1
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, Continued
>> Stormfront.org
Problems with Web Sites, Example 2
Criteria for Evaluating Web Pages
Criteria for Evaluation: Author or Webmaster
Criteria for Evaluation: The Author’s Point of View
Criteria for Evaluation: The Publisher
Criteria for Evaluation: Purpose
Criteria for Evaluation: Accuracy, Completeness, and Objectivity/Bias
Criteria for Evaluation: Accuracy
Criteria for Evaluation: Relevance
Criteria for Evaluation: Coverage
Criteria for Evaluation: Currency
Criteria for Evaluation: Visual Literacy
Criteria for Evaluation: Visual Literacy Continued
The fact that the second site has no author or publisher, and that the information seems off-topic and irrelevant, should serve to warn you that this web site is not a legitimate source of information on your research topic. By consulting Register.com (www.register.com), you can find out who registered the web site (i.e., who is the author or publisher). The author of the second King site is associated with an organization called Stormfront whose website(www.stormfront.org) has been removed from public access. Once you've seen the Stormfront homepage shown below, you'll have a pretty good idea as to what's up with the MartinLutherKing.org site.
Why would an organization like Stormfront put up a page almost identical (in look) to that of the King Center? The intent seems to be to cause confusion on Dr. King through the use of an ad hominem argument (irrelevantly emphasizng his personal flaws in an effort to detract from his public message).
In addition to possibly confusing the issue of Dr. King, his role in the Civil Rights Movement, and the topic of civil rights in general, Stormfront's King site looks as though it were a research-oriented page. This encourages students to use its contents in their research, thus spreading its message under the guise of truth.*
*Piper, Paul S. "Web Hoaxes, Counterfeit Sites, and Other Spurious Information on the Internet." In Web of Deception: Misinformation on the Internet. Ed. Anne P. Mintz. Medford, NJ: Information Today, 2002. 3.
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