How to be a critical internet user

Laramie/Lederle Collaboration Effort

March 28, 2006

Was there a clue in the URL that it was an unreliable resource?

No, not really. The URL looks legitimate.

legitimate URL extensions:

.net

.org

.com

.gov

.edu

When was this page last updated?

The date is recent so we know someone

checks on this site regularly.

Wait a minute! Notice the note under date

Note: content veracity not implied

What does veracity mean?

Veracity = truthfulness truth may be lacking

Can you contact the creator of this site easily?

Usually contact information can be found at the bottom of a site.

You can send feedback but read the fine print.

Under DHMO related Info: When you click on the links, is the information found, actually about DHMO?

These link to legitimate sites but do not contain information about

DHMO.

Try searching for DHMO on one of these sites.

Check out Press Kit. What clues do you find that it is a hoax?

Did you put in username and password? What did you find?

Articles stating DHMO is water.

Can you find any contact information from source #2?

Yes, we find an author. But can we e-mail anyone?

No, and look howold the information is.

Did you try clicking on DHMO or Coalition to Ban Dihydrogen?

What happened?

This is the page when you click on DHMO. Is this DHMO.org?

Where did you go when you clicked Coalition to Ban Dihydrogen? Back to the same page. This is a clue that this information is not reliable.

What do you find at the bottom of this page?

Ads, either pop up or stationary, do not add credibility to a site.

Webpage creators use these to make money. They are not a credible source.

Can you get to the home page from source #2?

Try truncating the URL.

Highlight text back to / in address then delete. Click Go to go to home page.

Does this have anything to do with DHMO? This isanother clue that this is not a credible source

Finally, Is Wikipedia a credible source?

This is a resource that can be modified by anyone. If you use this site make sure you verify the information with another source.

Remember to be critical users of the internet. Don’t get DUPED.

Look for these five clues.

• Date• URL• Pop up ads• E-mail• Design