2016-06-09 College Prep: evaluating online sources

Greg Malivuk
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http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk - Notes from all my classes
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Homework: Find an article online about a topic of your choice, and answer the questions from p. 154/286 about the article.
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http://www.dentistrytoday.com/infection-control/4729-spotlight-on-infection-controlthat-thing-you-do-
- It’s clear who the author is, what his credentials are, and how to contact him with questions or comments
- They also tell us that he is a paid consultant for two companies. (Why is this useful information to know?)

For example, if you see an article about the health effects of smoking cigarettes, and the author is a paid consultant for the Philip Morris company (which makes cigarettes), why is it important to know that fact?
- It tells us that he might be biased in favor of cigarettes. He might not be perfectly reliable.
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http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/21/asia/china-dinosaur-eggs-found/
- Name of the author is clear, but who she is is not clear. (she works for CNN)
- Date and time are clear.
- Audience is the general public (not experts in dinosaurs) -> Maybe it’s less reliable.
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Example from a sample TOEFL test.
- No information about the author. (In a TOEFL book.)
- Includes specific information and examples from the government. Specific companies are named.
- Doesn’t appear to have bias.
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p. 154/286 gives a checklist for evaluating any information you find (especially online).
It’s always a good idea to try to identify reliability and bias.

Wikipedia is not reliable because anyone can be an “author”.
The sources at the end of a Wikipedia article may be reliable (you have to click on them and check).

If the domain (the url) is not well-known, it might be a personal website or blog, which can mean it’s less reliable.

Statistics make an article look credible, but you have to make sure you know where the numbers come from.