Key to Evaluating Tobacco Sites

Tobacco Control Archives - http://www.library.ucsf.edu/tobacco/index.html

This is a reliable site - part of Galen II, a digital library of the University of California San Francisco. Very extensive resource covering most aspects of issues relating to tobacco.

Secondhand Smoke: The Big Lie http://www.smokingsection.com/issues1.html#smoke

The background design makes one suspicious immediately.  No authority or credentials for Joe Dawson the author are supplied.  There is a lack of spacing throughout – unprofessional and sloppy.  Emotive language is used throughout.  Many studies, etc., are referred to throughout but there are no references to actual documents at the end.  Makes outrageous claims.

Health Hazards of Tobacco: Some facts
http://www.who.int/archives/ntday/ntday96/pk96_3.htm

Produced as part of the World health Organization “World No Tobacco Day May 1996”.

Reliable source but again biased towards the dangers of tobacco use as the site is produced by a health organization.  Note: the date is 1996 so there may be more up-to-date info available now.

Role of Media in Tobacco Control http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00030959.htm

This is a site produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which is a subgroup of the US Dept of Health and Human Services. Would expect reliable information but it is biased towards the problems associated with tobacco use (health issues).  Provides references after the article. Note: the date is 1994 so there may be more up-to-date info available now.

Key to Evaluating  Anastasia Sites

1. Anastasia - http://www.foxhome.com/anastasia/main.html

This web site is obviously not useful for getting information for a research project.  However, good to put before students to ensure they recognize this. 

2.  My name is Anastasia -  http://www.alexanderpalace.org/anastasia/

This looks like an excellent site.  Very comprehensive; the author is very up-front about who he is and he has an interest in Russia, clearly, from the fact that he’s done other Internet sites on Russian topics.  Gives thanks to various people who helped him, including the curator of the Romanov Archives in Moscow.  A link check shows a number of academic sites linked to his Russian sites and he is mentioned as an artist, a historian and founder of "The Alexander Palace Association". The growing body of evidence suggests that this site is academically reliable but we still don’t know what the author's credentials are so we can't be certain.  Used in conjunction with other sites and if the info is supported elsewhere (perhaps texts), it should be okay.

3.     Was she really Grand Duchess Anastasia?  http://samsloan.best.vwh.net/forkunio.htm

Somewhat suspect page.  Put together by someone who met Anna Anderson when he was a 16 year old cadet.  There might be some good info here, but some things are suspect.  eg. he gives his name and his home page address (which no longer works) so the only responsible person is someone named Sam Sloan whose links all sound very emotional and rather strange too.

4.  Anastasia -    http://maxwellhill.rale.k12.wv.us/FriendsFlags/anastasia%20ann.htm

Child’s Web site….

Adapted from Birks & Hunt (2003) 'Hands-On Information Literacy Activities'  and reproduced with permission from the authors.