Cybrarian Internet Research Session

Instructor: Diane Smith - Jumpstart Computer Mini-course

Boston Public School Tech Teams-July 19-23, 1999 to July 23, 1999

Bunker Hill Community College - D121B

Today's sessions...

• approaching a new search tool
• using online, context relevant, help files
• natural language searching
• Boolean operators and keyword searching
• evaluating search results
• evaluating WWW sites
• pathfinders and other methods of getting organized

The Internet is a communication tool. It connects users to Information Banks representing such a wide range of sources and purposes that the journey can rarely be a passive one. It's easy to recognize an excellent site and equally simple to spot a low quality site. Most of what turns up in searching, however, falls somewhere in between the extremes.

There are a number of good sites on the Internet with tutorials and advice relating to evaluating sources of information. Almost all include ways of critically analyzing WWW pages since it is considered a basic skill for the information literate/competent person. A few of my favorites are:

From Harvard, Evaluating Web Resources by Jan Alexander and Marsha Ann Tate

http://www2.widener.edu/Wolfgram-Memorial-Library/webeval.htm

From OhioNet, Evaluating Internet Resources,a hands-on tutorial, by Kovacs Consulting,

http://www.kovacs.com/ohionet/evalact1.html

From So. California College, Evaluating Internet Research Sources, by Robert Harris,

http://www.sccu.edu/faculty/R_Harris/evalu8it.htm

In general, when checking the credibility of a WWW page as a source of information, it helps to review each new site in terms of the some basic and consistent criteria. Scholarly works and propaganda are often linked to each other on the WWW. Although some have set themselves as gatekeepers of sorts here and there on the Internet, in general there aren't any cyber-police on the lookout for bogus sites deliberate or otherwise. You're on your own surfing the net so it often helps to bring a set of good information habits with you.

Ask yourself, does the content of the site appear to be;

Accurate? Is the content accurate, without careless or deliberate errors, reasonably balanced in its presentation of ideas?

Credible? Can you tell who wrote it, the author's relationship to an institution or sponsor, open to comment and challenges?

Documented? Is the original source of the content material apparent? Is there a bibliography and are attributes made within the content clear?

Appropriate? What is the scope of the page in terms of coverage on its central topic?

Current? Is it old or new material? Is page content regularly updated and/or maintained?