University at Albany Authoritative Web Pages Research Project

Authoritative Web Pages Research Projectoverview
You must identify two authoritative Web pages that you expect to use in your final research
project.
NOTE: What makes the web page authoritative is the content — language/jargon from
the field, expertise of the authors, cited sources, report of research results — you need to
read and evaluate the source.
HINT: Any Web page that otherwise meets the standards of the previous paragraph and that
includes the terms or phrases such as works cited, bibliography, research, study, etc. may be
authoritative. Including one of these terms or phrases in your search string will not return all
appropriate results, but those that are returned probably may be appropriate.
The Web pages must NOT be periodicals – such as newspapers, magazines or journal articles
(Not Time Magazine, New York Times, Journal of Psychology). The pages must be from the
World Wide Web, NOT from a database. That is, it must be “free-standing,” with all the
characteristics of an academic source, but should not be periodically-updated as a journal, serial,
newspaper, or newsletter is. You will need to read through the information on each page to make
that distinction (if there are volume numbers, issue numbers, etc. it is most likely a periodical).
An appropriate source will more than likely be an extended essay or paper, government statistics
or report, etc. Use CANNOT use Wikipedia, About.com, WebMD, etc.
I encourage you to use the search strategies that we reviewed in class including the Google
source:
•
Better searches, better results at
https://www.madison.k12.ct.us/uploaded/library/DHHS/Tips_Tricks_17x22[1].pdf
Instructions
1. Open up a Word document. Save as AuthoritativeWeb.doc
2. Access Google.com
3. Type your search strategy (make sure to use Better searches, better results above) into the
Google search box
Take a Screen Shot of the Search – drop it into AuthoritativeWeb.doc
4. Review your results and if needed fine tune the search results
5. Select two Web pages that best meet your search that are authoritative
6. Type the citation for each Web page citation using the APA style guide template :
Name of Organization OR Author’s Last Name, Initials. (Year). Title of webpage. Retrieved from
http://xxx.xxx
7. Write an annotation for each of the websites
An annotation is a subjective evaluation of a piece of work. Annotations contain each of the
following:
•
description – tells what the source contains
•
summary – tells what the main findings are
•
evaluation – tells what you think of the source
Each annotation needs to be 150-200 words, in approximately 7 coherent sentences. These
annotations will demonstrate that you have read, understood and responded to the source.
8. Upload your work to Blackboard
Grading
Search (using Better searches)
…..7 points (cannot grade if there isn’t a screen shot)
Screen shot of search results
…..2 points
Authoritative Sources (3 each)
…..6 points
Citation for 2 sources (5 each)
…..10 points
Annotation for 2 sources (5 each)
…..10 points
Total
…..35 points
Research Project