Memo To: ER WSI Investigators

From: Unit Chief

Your assignment is to investigate web sites and make judgments about them. Be on the lookout for sites that try to mislead the reader. Below is research to help you uncover the true identity of a web site. To start your investigation, complete your ER WSI Data Sheet.

Part I: What can the address (URL) tell you?

Domain name: Between the http://www and first forward slash / is the domain name.

The extension of the domain name will provide clues about the type of web site.

.edu        = educational organization

.k12       = U.S. school site (not all schools use this)

.ac          = academic institution (outside the U.S.)

.sch        = school site (some schools outside the U.S. use this)

.com       = a company (usually .co in the United Kingdom)

.org        = can be any organization

.gov        = government agency

.net         = network

.mil         = military institution

(New extensions used by companies include .biz, .name, .pro, and .info)

Extensions can include country codes such as .uk = United Kingdom, or .ie = for Ireland, or .za = South Africa.  For a complete list, let’s look at:

http://www.computeruser.com/resources/dictionary/noframes/nf.domains.html

Personal Pages: A personal page is created by an individual.  A good investigator will try to discover any biased opinions or incorrect information. Here are some clues that tell you if you have found a personal web site:

Look for jdoe or a tilda ~ or % or the words user, people, or members.

Even if a web site has the extension .edu, which means an educational organization, you still need to keep a lookout for personal pages. Take a look at this web site from Harvard University:

http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/~yaz/en/squirrel_fishing.html

Truncating. This term means visiting the site address where it stops at the extension. 

Part II:  Authority.  

Anyone can publish anything on the Web. A good WSI Investigator can discover a great deal about the value of a web page through examination of its authorship.

• Who created the page?
• What organization is associated with that person?
• Can you discover the qualifications of that person?
• Can you link to the organization?
• Can you discover the purpose of the organization?
• Is there an address and phone number for the individual or organization? (This is usually at the bottom of the page.)
       

Next, let's investigate the authority of this drivers' license web site: http://www.license.shorturl.com/

Content. Sometimes content can fool the most experienced investigator. Read carefully!

• Is the content fact or opinion?
• Is the content objective or biased?
• Is there advertising on the page and does that influence the content?
• When was the page updated?
• Is the information accurate?
• Is the information believable?

Purpose.

• Always know the purpose of a web site. 
• Is the page meant to sell something?
• Who is the intended audience?
  

Part III:Putting it all together.  

Time for the WSI Investigation team to solve a few cases:

More sites to test your investigative powers.

• http://home.earthlink.net/~platter/articles/030131-kralev.html 
  Don't believe everything you read...
• http://faculty.winthrop.edu/kosterj/writ102/marktwain.htm 
  Does this sound like the Mark Twain we know?
• http://www.bonsaikitten.com/ 
  Interested in ordering this little critter?
• http://www.license.shorturl.com
  Do you think the government would allow you to look up drivers' licenses? Try it!
• http://improbable.com/airchives/classical/cat/cat.html 
  Like cats?

Thank you to the following web sites for providing information used in creating this webquest:

• http://www.gananda.org/library/mshslibrary/wchorror.htm
• http://www.novemberlearning.com
• http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/evalcrit.html

This webquest was written by Kathleen Sigler. 2005.

Thank you to Brian Regan, East Rochester High School for his teaching and patience.