Internet contains information that is easily accessible and timely.  A wide variety of information and misinformation can be found on the internet.  Because of this, it is important to develop a students awareness of bias contained in websites.  Even though the Internet contains the least reliable information of the three sources discussed in this module, it also contains information that cannot easily be accessible either due to geographic or budgetary reasons.  For example, it is now possible for students to find large ammounts of primary documents previously only accessible via the Library of Congress or individual special libraries across the nation.  Likewise, both local and foreign government agencies are also publishing data and government reports on the Internet.

Both educators and librarians have developed a set of criteria for evaluating web sites.  Students must learn these criteria to become information literate while surfing the Internet. Below are the six main evaluation criteria applied.  Click on the image to see definitions written for students.

Criteria for Evaluating Web Sites

below are all the different ways to evaluate web sites- click on the images for complete definitions.  These definitions were designed to inform students about web evaluation.

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