Check Your Evaluation:

All four sites provide information that you might want to include in a report or project about dinosaurs. However, in applying the criteria, one source does have a higher rating than the others.

Dino Russ's Lair has the highest overall rating based on all the criteria. The information is documented (Accuracy). The author, Russ Jacobson, is an Associate Geologist with the Illinois State Geological Survey, a division of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (Authority of Source.) The information is attributed to credible sources (Objectivity.) The page has been updated recently (Recency.) The site is comprehensive in its coverage of information on dinosaurs (Coverage.) And there are many links to sources that support the information on this site (Cross Check.)

Dino Land has lots of photos and information, but the site was begun when the author was fifteen, and some pages lack the professionalism of a mature voice. This site scored lower in authority of source.

The Dinosauricon site is a personal home page authored by T.Mike Keesey, an artist. Though information is provided on a wide variety of topics, many topics are still under construction and not yet linked. This site scored lower in authority of source and coverage.

Top 10 Misconceptions About Dinosaurs has interesting but limited information about dinosaurs. Therefore, the coverage score was rated lower.

Remember: all sources should be cross checked against other sources, whether information is from text, CD-ROM, laserdisc, video, or Web pages. It is always a safe idea to triangulate your information--which mean to gather information from at least three different sources. By gathering information from several different perspectives, you are more apt to make informed judgments about what information to use in your reports and projects.