Internet & Evaluation
Frederic Murray, M.L.I.S.
Instructional Services Librarian
Al 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 & Peerreviewed 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?
Domain Names
• Which one is right?
–
–
–
–
www.whitehouse.com
www.whitehouse.gov
www.whitehouse.net
www.whitehouse.org
• 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 3: Objectivity
• Web Pages
– Biased or Objective?
• Sponsoring Organization
• Agendas
• Political Propaganda
• Web hosting
http://english.aljazeera.net/
http://www.foxnews.com/
http://www.npr.org/
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
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.
The Machine is Us/ing Us
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!