Mrs. Hensley BCMS LMS
2015-2016
 Standard:
Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge
 Enduring Skill:
1.1.2 Find, evaluate and select appropriate sources to
answer questions.
 Prejudice, unacknowledged favoritism
 Leaning toward one particular view
 Subjective viewpoint vs. neutral or objective viewpoint
 Biased writing is not always bad, but it helps to be able to
recognize biased writing when we read it or when we
write it.
 Being biased in your own writing can injury your integrity
and hurt your grade.
 Inform
 Persuade
 Sell
Clue #1: Mission Statement
Clue #2: Domain suffix
Clue #3: Authorship
Clue #4: The Advertising
Clue #5: Organization name behind the information
Clue #6: The Language
 Some websites have an “About this site” link
on their home page. This link brings the
user to a page within the site that describes
the mission and goals of the site. This
mission statement helps the user
understand what point of view the author(s)
is writing from and what the primary
purpose of the Web site is.
 http://www.bourbon.kyschools.us/
 The domain suffix is a good indicator of the type of
organization behind the information.
 This is an easy clue to check because it always appears in
the Web address.
 For examples, some common U.S. domain suffixes are:
* .org
non-profit organization
* .com commercial
* .net network or net provider
* .edu education
* . gov government
* .mil military
 The suffix names may or may not tell us much about
the site’s purpose, however. The .com, .org, and .net
suffixes are not officially monitored to assure that the
suffix matches the site owner(s). Other suffixes like
.gov, .mil, and .edu are more closely monitored and are
known to be more authoritative than other domains.
 Web sites hosted outside the United States have their
own country-specific domain suffixes. Some examples
are: .uk for the United Kingdom, .jp for Japan, and .dk
for Denmark. How are they monitored??? You may
want to check before using the site.
 The authorship of a Web site is not always easy to find.
We must sometimes dig through a Web site to locate
the authorship.
 Knowing who the author is, and his or her
background, will help determine if there is any bias in
his or her Web writing.
 Some Web sites are designed solely for the purpose of
selling something. Other Web sites offer information
mixed with selling or advertising. You need to be
cautious that the advertising is not affecting the
information given on that site.
 Many sites with credible, accurate information have
ads. These ads help support the Web sites. Web sites
can be expensive and time consuming to develop.
Funding from the ads may help pay those that work on
the site for their time.
 The name of the organization or company backing the
Web site offers more specific clues about the origin
and purpose of the information than the domain
suffix. Often the organization or company name can
be found in the domain name (the words or letters that
appear together with the domain suffix). If there is no
domain or an organization name then you will need to
dig through the Web site and find this information to
determine what companies and organizations are
influencing the information.
 Language can determine the authors opinions and
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attiudes
Emotionalism: Exaggerated display of strong
feelings. May appear as politically charged labels,
name-calling, swearing, sarcasm.
Rumor & conspiracy theories: may be fun to read but
the information is not fact
Humorous writing: is biased when the humor is at
someone else’s expense.
Soap Box: will share opinions and show ones views
Objective and subjective: Objective deal with facts
only. Subjective share an opinion, not necessarily fact.
 The bird built a nest outside the window.
 The stupid bird built a messy nest outside the dirty
window.
Citation
Information for this Power Point provided by
Wikipedia.
;) Just Kiddin’
 Christensson, K. (2006). Radcab Your Vehicle for
Information Evaluation . Fort Atkinson,
Wisconsin: UpstartBooks.
 Mind hacks: 4 cognitive biases you can use to your
advantage. (2015, April 28). Retrieved October 13, 2015.
http://editeddaily.com
 Child magnifying glass. (2011, September 22).
Retrieved October 13, 2015.
http://www.catholiclane.com
 Spy Baby Names. (n.d.). Retrieved October 13, 2015.
http://babynames.allparenting.com
 Name one clue to look for when determining if a Web
site has useful and has factual information?
 What are the three best domain suffixes to consider for
gathering information for research?
 List two reliable resources you could use when
researching Christopher Columbus?