The goal is to make judgments about website information based upon what the URL tells you. Here are three guiding questions that can help.
1. Do you recognize the domain name?
The domain name is found after the http:// and www. to the first forward slash /. For example in the URL www.novemberlearning.com, novemberlearning.com is the domain name.
A domain name can sometimes provide clues about the quality of information of a site or tell you what a site is about.
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2. What is the extension in the domain name?
.com and .net are examples of extensions. Extensions are an important part of domain names. You probably know quite a few already. Extensions are intended to show the type of establishment that owns and publishes the domain. Here is a list to look for:
COMMON EXTENSIONS
.edu Educational organization (most US universities)
.k12 US school site (not all US schools use this)
.ac Academic institution (outside of US)
.sch School site (some schools outside of the US use this)
.com Company (usually .co in the UK)
.org Any organization
.gov Government agency
.net Network
.mil Military institution
New extensions to look for are .biz, .name, .pro, .info. All are used for commercial purposes.
Extensions can also include country codes, such as .uk, .ca, .za, etc. For a complete list refer to: http://goes.gsfc.nasa.gov/text/web_country_codes.html
Some extensions may provide more reliable information than others, but there are no guarantees. Ones that may be more reliable are .edu, .gov, .k12. Ones to watch out for are .com, .org, .net. These domains can be purchased by anybody. This is not to say that sites with these extensions can never be trusted, but it is good to know whether you are on a commercial or special interest-type site if you are trying to access academic-type information.
3. Are you on a personal page?
You may or may not recognize the domain name or extension of a URL. Keep reading past the first forward slash / for more clues. If you are on a personal page the information you are reading may or may not be trustworthy.
A personal page is a website created by an individual. The website may contain useful information, links to important resources and helpful facts, but sometimes these pages offer highly biased opinions.
The presence of a name in the URL such as jdoe and a tilde ~ or % or the word users or people or members frequently means you are on a personal website.
Even if a site has the extension, .edu, you still need to keep a look out for personal pages. Case in point is this website previously available and published by a professor at Northwestern University: http://pubweb.northwestern.edu/~abutz/di/intro.html
This site is a Holocaust Revisionist site that argues that the Holocaust did not take place. Although this site contains a domain name we should be able to trust northwestern.edu, the tilde ~ followed by someone’s name, abutz tell us that this is a personal posting and not an official Northwestern page.
**Today, Professor Butz’s site, describing the holocaust as an historic myth is no longer available at the original address. In fact, when you type in the address a screen from Northwestern appears that says the site is no longer available. The message is only accurate in part. The site is no longer available at the original address but it is available if you know how to research the history of a website with a special tool called the Wayback Machine. (see section VI)
To use Professor Butz’s site, you will be directed to an archived address of the original site:
http://web.archive.org/web/20041012180151/pubweb.northwestern.edu/~abutz/di/intro.html
Notice the second half of this URL. You’ll see that this second half shows the actual former address of the site.**
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Led by Alan November and based in Marblehead, MA, November Learning equips teachers and administrators to motivate students to own their learning and make global connections by using effective technology and implementing rigorous assignments. Through our annual Building Learning Communities® conference, professional development services and extended resources, our team of experts empowers educators to enact powerful changes across the curriculum, drawing on students’ abilities to think critically, communicate globally, express creativity and collaborate across several types of media.
I have learned a lot with this information.
Thank you very much.
I learned something new! I assumed there was indeed a way to differentiate from personal and professional but was unaware as to what the specifics were.
Good info. I had no idea what signs to look for that made something an individual’s page. The address can be misleading.
I agree with you , there was a lot of good information and I also didn’t understand how to tell the differences.
I did not know the difference between personal and professional sights. Thanks for info.
I’ve learned enough to warn me off of suspicious web sites from this information.
I knew some of this, but many things I did not know.
I try to explain the differences and meanings of different web addresses and love how helpful this is for my class.
I learned more about personal and professional pages.
Something I have known but needed a little review!!
Good reminder about personal information on a “trustworthy” site! A lot of students see wikipedia as the one and only source of information in the world, it is definitely something to talk about.
I have learned how to understand the codes for the webs I feel very comfortable to know their meanings
Good information. I learned things to look for
in the web address when determning if the site can
be trusted or not.
I knew some of this but not all. It’s a good source of information to share with our students.
I found the list of common extensions helpful.
Good to know when looking up research
I knew some of this, but did not know the difference in personal and professional websites… Great information!
Very informative! I didn’t know about the tilde.
Good information. I did not know any of this.
Thanks!
I’d like to add up on read subdomains too.
If the main domain is http://www.abc.com, then a subdomain can be http://www.sub.abc.com. It can also be possible that a subdomain can be redirected to http://www.abc.com/sub as a subdirectory via htaccess. It’s a bit technical but I know you can understand it clearly.
Dre
Practical article – Just to add my thoughts , you require a a form , my family found a blank form here
https://goo.gl/tJx69C.this is top class info that really helped me learn something about website differentiation
very informative … every teacher must share in the class with all student groups as well
These tips are clear and concise and it is super important for teachers to convey to students the importance of reliable sources. Learning to investigate how to investigate the source independently will help them take ownership and fully understand the reason for finding reliable information.
Very helpful information which I will use often in the future when trying to identify the different types of websites I will using for specific purposes
Some things i didnt know, thank you.
Thanks,very helpful
You might replace some of the http with https. I met Alan in San Francisco in the mid 1990s when he consulted at School of the Arts. What a great educational resource. He provided one of the most talented teachers there with the incentive to leave classroom teaching and go into consulting.