Internet & Evaluation

Frederic Murray, M.L.I.S. Instructional Services LibrarianAl Harris Library SWOSU

The Internet is…

• a major presence in our daily lives• constantly growing• helping make an enormous

amount of information available

Web Searching is easy because…..• Speed• Choice• Availability 24/7

• Always get an answer

Web searching is difficult because…

• Organization• Quality control• Reliability

Web vs. Library Databases• Web

– Good for current events

– Statistical Information

– Pop Culture– Opinion– Information about

Organizations & Groups

• Library Databases– Research Based

Books & Articles– Full-text Resources– Authoritative &

Peer-reviewed Materials

– Information about People & Cultures

– Easier to Search• AND, OR, NOT• Specific Subjects

Remember to Evaluate!!!• Authority

– Who created it? Who is responsible?– What credentials do they hold? What makes

them qualified to discuss the topic?• Accuracy

– Can the information be verified?– Check the facts!

• Objectivity– How is the information being presented?– Is it objective or biased? What’s the point of

view?• Currency (important based on subject)

– When was it published?– When was it last updated?

Step 1: Authority

• Web Pages–

Credentials/Qualifications/Reputation– Who is responsible for content?

• Webmaster?• Web team?• Organization?• Institution?• Company?

Step 1: Authority: Questions

1. Do you recognize the author's name? Is there an author's name?

2. If you don't recognize the name, or there is no name, what type of information is given about the contact information? - Position? - Organizational affiliation? - E-mail address? - Biographical information?

Domain Names

• Which one is right?– www.whitehouse.c

om– www.whitehouse.g

ov– www.whitehouse.n

et– www.whitehouse.or

g

• Whois.net– www.whois.net

• .gov• .org• .mil• .com• .edu• .net• .int

Indicates a reliable domain name

Domain Names

Domain Names: ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) has overall responsibility for managing the Domain Name System.

Step 2: Accuracy

• Web Pages– Can the information be verified?

• Links to credible sites• Copyright• Works Cited• Fact check with a printed source

Step 2: Accuracy

1. Does the website cite sources used to present its information? What type of sources are they? Scholarly? Popular?

2. Is it possible to verify the legitimacy of these sources?

3. If the site is research-based, does the website clearly identify the method of research and the data gathered?

Step 3: Objectivity

Biased or Objective?• Sponsoring Organization• Agendas• Political Propaganda• Web hostinghttp://english.aljazeera.net/News http://www.foxnews.com/ http://www.npr.org/

Do you trust the author or organization providing the information?

Step 3: Objectivity

Do you trust the author or organization providing the information?

Determine what is the aim of the author or organization publishing the site.

What is the purpose of the web site?

1. Is it advertisement for a product or service?2. Is it for political purposes?3. Is it trying to sway public opinion on a social

issue?

Step 4: Currency

• Web Pages– When was it created and last

updated?• Well maintained web sites have an

indication when it was last updated or modified

• Accessibility– Dead links

• Stability– Changes URLs frequently

Step 4: Currency

1. Is a date clearly displayed?2. Can you determine what the date refers to?

When the page was first written?When the page was first posted on the Internet?When the page was last revised or

updated?The copyright date?

3. Are the resources used by the author current?4. Does the page content demand routine or

continual updating or revision?5. Do the links on the page point to the correct

Internet site addresses?

Exercise: Evaluation Handout

• www.who.int/en/• www.dhmo.org• www.genochoice.com • www.martinlutherking.org• www.aaip.org/ • www.acusa.net/

Known for providing information on web traffic

Google

• Larry Page & Sergey Brin/ Grad Students 1998

• Mission: "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.“

• 2007: 23 Billion dollar corporation

Google: A Tool like any other

Site Specific Command

What it does: searches only specific domains

What to type: nursing jobs site:edu nursing jobs site:com nursing jobs site:org

Google Scholar

• Google Scholar provides a simple way to search for scholarly literature. Search across many disciplines and sources: peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations.

Google Scholar

• Works best for Citations• Restrictions to Content

– Fee-based

– Often your Library already owns material

– We’re working on improving access

– Example: Tribal Colleges

Wikipedia

Wiki: A Web application that allows users to add content to a collaborative hypertext Web resource (coauthoring), as in an Internet forum, and permits others to edit that content

(open editing).

Wikipedia

• Jimmy Wales January 15, 2001• No Original Research• NPOV (Neutral point of view)• No owners, multiple anonymous

authors• Anyone with Internet access can

create or edit an entry…Anyone

Wikipedia

• Contributors: male, English speaking, denizens of the Internet.

• Problem is not that it disregards the facts, but that it elevates them above all else.

• Most of the content is discussion/history of edits & not the entries themselves.

Rosenzweig, Roy. “Can History Be Open Source? Wikipedia and the Future of the

Past.” The Journal of American History 93.1 (2006): 117-146.

Wikipedia

• Participation maps popular, not academic concerns

• It is a working community…but is it a good historical resource?

• Lack of Critical Analysis• Problematic as a sole source of

information • Like all encyclopedias…ok to start,

terrible place to stop. • Benefits are to its active participants,

not its readers.

Writing Your Paper

• Writing Center– Located in the basement of the

library– Call for appointment #774-7083

• MLA Style– Style Sheets– MLA Handbook at Reference &

Circulation Desk– http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/

Questions?

• Contact me:

• Frederic Murray, M.L.I.S. • 744-7113• frederic.murray@swosu.edu

Thanks!