Section 3 | MENU
Error messages may result from a variety of situations, some relating to the operation of
the browser software, others to the operation of the Internet. The browser software will
attempt to evaluate any problem that is encountered and display an appropriate error
message. The most common error messages result from trying to access a document that
is not currently available, or mistyping a web address. The server issuing the page may be
temporarily shut down or too busy with other connections to handle your request. Or the
page may no longer be at the location specified by the web address. Some error messages
suggest actions you can take. Occasionally, error messages refer to technical aspects of
the problem that may appear cryptic to most users.
"Not Found
The requested URL /~sclancy/search/pages/troubleshooting.htm was not found on
this server."
Go to the "location" window at the top of the browser and click once and the
again at the right-hand side of the url: .../search/pages/troubleshooting.htm:
We begin by deleting the portion of the address after the last "/":
If an error occurs again, we then delete the next portion of the address:
Hopefully we will come to a higher level of the web site which has a table of
contents, a site map or some other means of locating the page we need.
A common error when typing a web address is to include too many or too few
forward slashes:
http:/ or http:///
Case is important in web addresses, but only after the first single slash:
"http://www.lib.uci.edu/online/databases.html"
Does not equal
"http://www.lib.uci.edu/online/Databases.html"
BUT
"http://www.lib.uci.edu/online/databases.html"
DOES equal
"http://WWW.LIB.UCI.EDU/online/databases.htm
l"
Exercise 3: troubleshooting
1. What's Wrong with this web address:
http//:www.lib.uci.edu/online/databases.html ? How would you fix it?
2. I have gone to the web address: "http://sun3.lib.uci.edu/~sclancy/med.html"
and received the following message:
http://studio.go.com/m2m/index.html
http://studio.go.com/m2m/Index.html
http://www.ninthgate.com/
http://WWW.NinthGate.COM/
Evaluating Web sites
Section 2 | MENU | Section 4
The Web is "like the telephone system except there are computers instead of phones at the
end. You can connect to the computer across the street or around the world, just like the
phone system. You can get good information or bad information, talk on a party line,
leave or get messages, get no answer, or get a wrong computer... The value or lack of
value is in the files that people have put on a computer and made available. AND, just
like a phone call, some of those files are valuable and useful and some are the equivalent
of the 14th credit card offer you've received in one evening." 2
Web sites are as varied and reliable (or UNreliable) as the persons, corporations and
institutions that produce them. Large portions of the Internet and the Web are unfiltered
and unrefereed as to content or accuracy. Many professional-appearing sites are solely for
commercial promotion and sales, the unreviewed efforts of individuals, or collections of
outdated information. Still, there are hundreds of sites offering legitimate and useful
information. The trick is to separate the wheat from the chaff.
This section lists a few criteria you can use for evaluating a web site. Some of the criteria
may not be appropriate to every web site, especially personal or fan web sites.
You may download a simple form to use for evaluating a web site:
• The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: or, Why It's a Good Idea to Evaluate Web
Sources
http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/evalcrit.html
• Critical Evaluation of Resources on the Internet
http://www.library.ualberta.ca/guides/criticalevaluation/index.cfm
• Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources
http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/help/critical/index.htm
• Evaluating Quality on the Net
http://www.hopetillman.com/findqual.html
• Gullible's travels: Marylaine Block shows how to teach students to guard
against misinformation, disinformation, and spin on the net.
http://libraryjournal.reviewsnews.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=C
A210719
[Block, Marylaine. "Gullible's travels: Marylaine Block shows how to teach
students to guard against misinformation, disinformation, and spin on the net.”
(cover story). Library Journal, v127 i7 (April 15, 2002): pS12(3)]
• Evaluating Internet Resources: Factors to Consider
http://phpartners.org/eval.html
by Gale Dutcher, National Library of Medicine.
• Tips for Healthy Surfing Online: Finding Quality Health Information on the
Internet.
http://www.ihealthcoalition.org/content/tips.html
by the Internet Healthcare Coalition.
• Guidelines for Medical and Health Information Sites on the Internet
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/283/12/1600
Principles Governing AMA Web Sites. This is a good example of the criteria a
medical information provider is using to ensure the quality of their web site. This
article appeared in JAMA, March 22/29 2000, 283(12):1600-6.
• Internet Detective: an interactive tutorial on evaluating the quality of
Internet resources
http://www.sosig.ac.uk/desire/internet-detective.html
An online tutorial to enhance critical thinking skills for evaluating web-based
information.
Web Site Rating Guides
These exercises will give you a chance to view and evaluate a selection of web sites that
differ not only by subject, but also by purpose, bias, and design. It is also meant to
illustrate the wide spectrum of sites available on the Web.
Exercise 2a
• The first three sets of web sites represent the opposite sides of an issue. Pick one
set and compare the two. Whether or not you personally agree with the
information on the web site, how would you rate each in light of the seven
criteria?
o The Skeptics Society
http://www.skeptic.com/
o Creation Science home page
http://emporium.turnpike.net/C/cs/index.htm
o Minnesota FORCES
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Congress/4641/index.html
o TabaccoFree.org
http://www.tobaccofree.org/
o The Great AIDS Hoax
http://www.truthbeknown.com/aidslinks.htm
o American Foundation for AIDS REsearch (amfAR)
http://www.amfar.org/cgi-bin/iowa/index.html
Exercise 2b
• The following are a selection of web sites on differing subjects. Pick one or two
and apply the seven criteria to them. What is your opinion of the web site(s) you
selected? Is the information posted on the web site(s) valid and reliable?
o ThirdAge
http://www.thirdage.com/index.html/
o Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division - dihydrogen monoxide info
http://www.dhmo.org/
o Breast Augmentation & Breast Implants Information Web - by Nicole
http://www.implantinfo.com/
o Educate-Yourself, Inc. - Natural Healing Therapies, Hidden Science,
and Coming Earth Transformations
http://educate-yourself.org/
o Pain-Relief.US
http://pain-relief.us/
o The Body
http://www.thebody.com/index.shtml
o MEDLINEplus Health Information
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/
Acording to the Deep Web FAQ "the 60 largest Deep Web sources
contain 84 Billion pages of content. That's about 750 terabytes of
information — sufficient by themselves to exceed the size of the surface
Web by 40 times. For comparison, Google (the largest Crawler-based
search engine) indexes 4 - 6 Billion pages." More information on the
"Deep Web" can be found in the Deep Web White Paper.
Searching for information on the Web is a matter of knowledge, skill, practice AND
imagination. Since there is really no equivalent to the Library of Congress on the Web,
and many web sites are poorly organized, it is up to you to think of innovative ways of
finding what you need.
Every search engine has its own quirks and features. Here are a few tips:
1. Read all help or FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) pages for the search
system.
Most search sytems contain help pages or tutorials which outline the various tips
and tricks for searching effectively. There may seperate tutorials for basic and
advanced searching.
5. Use synonyms, plural and alternate forms for your search terms:
o "cat" "cats" "feline" "kitten" "kittens"
o "email" "e-mail"
o "color" "colour"
6. Combine keywords with words that might appear in the Web address (URL)
or restrict your search by "SITE TYPE."
7. Dig through the "strata."
Many (or most) search engines list the results beginning with the most relevant
matches. However, if you don't find the web page you are looking for, try looking
at the sites you DID find for one that might link to the site you want. For instance,
you may not find the official web site for Disneyland immediately, but you may
retrieve a site entitled "My favorite theme parks" which may contain a link to the
Disneyland web site.
8. Use Meta-search systems to search several search systems at once.
9. BE PERSISTENT.
If you don't get good results with one search system, try another.