Exposing the Hoax of www.DHMO.org

624 Words2 Pages

Information literacy is an important skill, and unfortunately one that many people lack. Recently, I evaluated the website www.DHMO.org. Although most of the information available on the website has merit, it was created as a hoax to bring light to the subject of information literacy in todays’ society. My evaluation of the website will prove that the website masks itself as a reputable source of information, but by researching the website itself, it becomes evident that it is in fact nothing more than a hoax.
According to the criteria for evaluating a website set forth by the University of California Berkeley, the URL makes this website appear legitimate. There are no indicators that the website is published by an outside source. It also gives no ownership to an individual. The non-profit organization domain extension does a decent job of disguising the website as a reputable source of information.
A scan of the perimeter of the webpage gives the first bit of evidence that the site may be suspect, although there are still items in this are that may give the website false credibility. There are no links on the page that discuss the background of the organization, only and FAQ on the subject. The website is kept up to date very well. Through the course of my research, I noticed that the website had been updated twice, perhaps even weekly. Although there is no direct author identified on the page, it is copyrighted by Tom Way. A google.com search for his name identifies him as an associate professor at Villanova University.
Out of curiosity, I gave leniency to the terms “about us” and “biography” and decided to take a look at the FAQ link as a substitute. Again, this link contained a lot of accurate information, although some of ...

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...equired me to engage myself and learn more about the subject. Debate is a good way to engage the student in the material, (Scott, 2009) and I would have to agree. I learned a lot about just how much I don’t understand from my research on this subject!

Works Cited

Carder, L., Willingham, P., & Bibb, D. (2001). Case-based, problem-based learning:
Information literacy for the real world. Research Strategies, 18(3), 181-90. doi:10.1016/S0734-3310(02)00087-3 William Wan. (2004, ). California; hoax soaks aliso viejo; city officials fall for an internet prank and draft a law to curb the risks of dihydrogen monoxide: ORANGE COUNTY
EDITION. Los Angeles Times, pp. B.1.
Sophia Scott. (2008). Perceptions of students' learning critical thinking through debate in a technology classroom: A case study. Journal of Technology Studies, 34(1), 39-44.

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