Vetted Resources: Hoax and Parody Sites
If you have suggestions for additional sites (or if any of these sites are not working) please write us: help@21cif.com.
Boese, Alex. The Museum of Hoaxes [website]. San Diego (CA): The Museum of Hoaxes, 1997, 2003- [cited 15 September 2003]. Available from Internet: < http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/>.
Regular news about cons and hoaxes makes this website an interesting stop. This is commercial website, dedicated to selling the author's book. The list of Internet hoax sites is valuable, but some links are out of date. As far as the author's credibility, little is known about the elusive Mr. Boese.
Forsyte, Joel . The Ova Prima Foundation [Website]. : Ova Prima Foundation : 2000 [cited 1 February 2003]. Available from World Wide Web: <http://www.ovaprima.org/>.
A pseudoscientific organization dedicated to the egg? The site has a straight face and a bent sense of reality.
Hoaxbusters: CIAC Internet Hoax and Chain Letter pages in Computer Incident Advisory Capability, United States Government , [Website]. : 7 January 2003 [cited 12 January 2003]. Available from World Wide Web: <http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/>.
Schrock, Kathy. Teacher Helpers: Critical Evaluation Information in Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators, [Website]. : Discovery.Com: 1995 - 2003 [cited 30 January 2003]. Available from World Wide Web: <http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/eval.html>.
Winter, Ken . Questionable Websites [Website]. Preston Library, VMI :19 August 2002 [cited 24 January 2003]. Available from World Wide Web: <http://web.vmi.edu/library/kw/questionable.htm>.
Wiseman, Ken. Evaluating Web Sites in K-12 Education. Website. Arlington Heights (IL): Wiseman Tech, February 2004- [cited 10 March 2004]. Available from Internet: <http://www.wisemantech.com/search/eval.html>.
POP! The First Male Pregnancy [Website]. RYT Hospital-Dwayne Medical Center, 10 March 2001- [cited 10 March 2004]. Available from Internet: < http://www.malepregnancy.com/ >.Popular presenter Ken Wiseman offers this page of evaluation links, which includes an extensive list of hoax sites.
This is an exceptionally well done hoax site. The use of technology and design elements lends this site 'visual' credibility. Following the links provided on this site will lead you to additional hoax pages done with the same high graphics standards. Using the Link: feature found on many search engines, including the IMSA Search Wizard, reveals the self-referring nature of the site. You'll have to dig deeply with a skeptical eye to find the proof you need to debunk this site!
Human Cloning: The How To Page [Website]. Arthur Kerschen, last updated August 6, 2007. [cited Dec. 30, 2009]. Available from Internet: < http://www.biofact.com/cloning/human.html >.
This site provides practice in using reasoning and browsing to evaluate its credibility. Other approaches such as evaluate the author and the link: command do not reveal much, although an Arthur Kerschen may be found on Facebook and Linked In. The best approach is to browse the site looking for clues to authenticity and accuracy. Another approach for those with knowledge of cloning may come straight from the content. Is the approach and the accompanying description reasonable?
The Institute of Delicious Whale Research [Website]. [cited Jan. 8, 2010]. Available from Internet: < http://www.icrwhales.net>.
This is a self proclaimed parody site on whale research. It makes a good challenge for finding the author and publisher, analyzing the language to determine whether the site is a parody for or against whale research and/or hunting, and to find the site that is being parodized.
