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Internet Literacy
Your Vehicle for Information
Evaluation
Why not Google?
• Anyone can make a website.
• The top sites Google gives you is based on
popularity.
• Google only shows the surface web, not the
deep web.
What is RADCAB?
This tool will help
you to assess and
judge information
you find online and
to think critically
about information
Relevancy
Ask yourself:
• Is the information relevant (or closely
connected) to my question?
• Am I on the right track?
Relevancy
Keywords
Let’s pretend we have a research assignment on recent findings about
new planets being discovered outside of our solar system.
USE
EXAMPLE
WHY
Nouns and objects
planet
planets
verbs and adverbs are
usually thrown out
Using OR
planet or planets
discovery or find
results with either one or
both of your terms
Use “quotes”
“solar system”
use quotes to get exact
phrase results
Using AND
“new planet” and “solar
system”
results will include both of
your search words
Using NOT (or -)
planet not star
planet-star
results are only the first
word and not the second
site:
planets site:edu
planets site:gov
Only edu sites
Only gov sites
Appropriateness
Ask yourself:
• Is the information suitable for my age and
core values?
• Will it help me answer my question?
Appropriateness
• Information sources that make you feel
confused or uneasy are information
sources to be exited ASAP.
• You are in charge of “policing” your own
research activity. How? By setting your
own personal boundaries for what you
view, read and listen to that take into
account your age and core values.
Detail
Ask yourself:
• How much information do I need?
• Is the depth of coverage adequate?
Detail
What are the details?
How are they useful?
Site map
Navigation and scope
Page organization: titles, headings,
and subtitles
Navigation and evidence of quality
construction
Works cited pages
Credit to information sources used
External links
Additional information sources
Internal search engine
Quick information retrieval
Interactive, graphic elements
Visual aids and interface interaction
Design appeal
Easy and pleasant to use
Which site
has enough
detail?
Currency
Ask yourself:
• When was the information published or
last update?
Currency
• The quality of our research is related to
how carefully we analyze the currency of
our information sources.
• http://solarsystem.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/i
ndex.cfm
Authority
Ask yourself:
• Who is the author of the information?
• What are his or her qualifications?
Authority
• Authoritative information sources have
everything to do with how accurate and
credible the information presented is.
• What are the author's qualifications? Is
the author associated with a particular
school, university, organization, company,
or governmental agency? Is his or her
email address included on the website?
Bias
Ask yourself:
• Why was this information written?
• Was it written to INFORM me,
PERSUADE me or SELL me something?
Bias
How do you know if the information you have found
has a special agenda behind it? Does the information
have a particular angle, slant, or spin to it?
•
•
•
•
•
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Look for clues. Clues like:
the domain name
the domain suffix (.com, .edu, .gov, etc.)
the advertising
the mission statement
the authorship or organization behind the information
the tone of voice or language used
Best places to start
Iowa AEA Online
http://www.iowaaeaonline.org/
EBSCO and World Book Web
Sweet Search
http://www.sweetsearch.com/
Adapted with permission
from author
“RADCAB” ™ A mnemonic acronym for
information evaluation
Created by Karen M. Christensson, M.S.
Library Media Education