Marco Polo extra credit opportunity due Friday March 4

1.  To learn about Marco Polo, we completed a CSI guide. While it had interesting information, it was definitely trying to persuade us that he did not visit China. For this extra credit assignment, you will read 3 on-line articles about Marco Polo. You will complete an Internet evaluation sheet for each site.

2.  After you have completed the website evaluations, review the essay you originally wrote about whether Marco polo was a fraud. Consider any new evidence that you learned from this assignment. Has your opinion changes or remained the same? Write a new essay explaining your findings.

3.  Here is some info about website extensions

.edu – Educational websites use this extension.

.gov – Government run websites use this extension.

.org – Non-profit organizations generally use this extension.

.mil – Reserved for the United States Military

.com – This is what every company strives to obtain because it is the most popular. Consumers know they can trust a .com website. This is supposed to be used for a company that is commercial.

.net – This is usually the second choice for webmaster after .com. The extension stands for “network” and is supposed to be used for online-based companies.

.info – Although once heavily used by spammers, more and more companies have adopted this extension. This is supposed to be used by companies that offer a large quantity of general information.

.biz – This is also supposed to be used for business and commercial use companies.

Name: Period:

Site# 1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Polo#Travels_of_Marco_Polo
Purpose
What is the purpose of the site?
(persuade, inform, or entertain)
Explain
Author’s Intent
What is the domain?
.com,.net,.edu.,org
Who created the site and what knowledge do they have?
What contact information is given?
Bias
Does the content give only one side of an issue? If so, do they hide their bias?
Does their bias impact the usefulness of the information? Explain.
Content
Is the site accurate, complete, well-written and relevant? Explain.
Is the site up-to-date? When was the site last updated?
Do most of the links on the page lead to relevant information? Explain.
Are there mistakes in spelling or word usage?
Design
Is the information presented in a clear and organized fashion? Explain.
Do any graphics, video or audio add to the content or distract? Explain.
Do ads interfere with the content?
Final Evaluation
Give your final evaluation of the site. Is the site a truthful and reliable source of
information? Explain.
Does this site corroborate any other information you have read? (Answer this when you have finished all 3 articles
Site# 2 http://www.silk-road.com/artl/marcopolo.shtml
Purpose
What is the purpose of the site? Explain
Author’s Intent
What is the domain?
Who created the site and what knowledge do they have?
What contact information is given?
Bias
Does the content give only one side of an issue? If so, do they hide their bias?
Does their bias impact the usefulness of the information? Explain.
Content
Is the site accurate complete, well-written and relevant? Explain.
Is the site up-to-date? When was the site last updated?
Do most of the links on the page lead to relevant information? Explain.
Are there mistakes in spelling or word usage?
Design
Is the information presented in a clear and organized fashion? Explain.
Do any graphics, video or audio add to the content or distract? Explain.
Do ads interfere with the content?
Final Evaluation
Give your final evaluation of the site. Is the site a truthful and reliable source of information? Explain.
Does this site corroborate any other information you have read? (Answer this when you have finished all 3 articles
Site# 3 http://www.travelchinaguide.com/silk-road/history/traveler-marco-polo.htm
Purpose
What is the purpose of the site? Explain
Author’s Intent
What is the domain?
Who created the site and what knowledge do they have?
What contact information is given?
Bias
Does the content give only one side of an issue? If so, do they hide their bias?
Does their bias impact the usefulness of the information? Explain.
Content
Is the site accurate complete, well-written and relevant? Explain.
Is the site up-to-date? When was the site last updated?
Do most of the links on the page lead to relevant information? Explain.
Are there mistakes in spelling or word usage?
Design
Is the information presented in a clear and organized fashion? Explain.
Do any graphics, video or audio add to the content or distract? Explain.
Do ads interfere with the content?
Final Evaluation
Give your final evaluation of the site. Is the site a truthful and reliable source of information? Explain.
Does this site corroborate any other information you have read? (Answer this when you have finished all 3 articles

Upd. 08.09 HB