EVALUATING INFORMATION AUTHOR INFORMATION CREDENTIALS EXPERTISE NOTES ON

EVALUATING INFORMATION AUTHOR INFORMATION §CREDENTIALS §EXPERTISE NOTES ON THE AUTHOR, BIOGRAPHY, REVIEWS – MANY INTERNET SOURCES DO NOT GIVE THE IDENTITY OR CREDENTIALS OF THE AUTHOR CURRENCY §DATE OF PUBLICATION §IS IT IMPORTANT TO THE SUBJECT MATTER? CURRENT RESEARCH FOR SCIENCES, SOCIAL SCIENCES

EVALUATING INFORMATION DOCUMENTATION §DOES THE AUTHOR REFER TO OTHER WORKS? §IS THERE A BIBLIOGRAPHY? LINKS TO OTHER RESOURCES, REFERENCES, BIBLIOGRAPHY PURPOSE §THE PURPOSE OF THE RESOURCE (TO INFORM, TO PERSUADE, TO SELL) §FOR WHAT AUDIENCE §POPULAR / SCHOLARLY §BIAS, PROPAGANDA, HOAX – SOMETHING INTENDED TO DECEIVE OR DEFRAUD http: //www. hoaxbusters. org/ http: //snopes. com/

EVALUATING INFORMATION REVIEW PROCESS §A PERIODICAL – PEER REVIEWED OR NOT §A BOOK – PUBLISHER’S REPUTATION §INTERNET RESOURCE USE RESEARCH DATABASES; MANY INTERNET RESOURCES ARE NOT REVIEWED BEFORE PUBLISHING SUITABILITY §IS THE INFORMATION RELEVANT §IS THE RESOURCE TOO SPECIAL / TOO POPULAR READ THE ABSTRACT; CONSULT TOC

EVALUATING INFORMATION EVALUATING WEBSITES CURRENCY IS THE INFORMATION UP TO DATE? WHEN WAS THE WEB SITE LAST MODIFIED? ARE THERE DEAD LINKS ON THE WEB SITE? AUTHORITY WHAT ARE THE AUTHOR’S CREDENTIALS? WHAT IS THE AUTHOR’S AFFILIATION (UNIVERSITY OR OTHER)? DID THE AUTHOR CITE THE REFERENCES USED? IS THERE CONTACT INFORMATION? PURPOSE IS THE INFORMATION PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL OR OTHER PURPOSES? IS IT A HOAX? IS THE WEB SITE ON A PREFERRED DOMAIN SUCH AS. GOV OR. EDU? IS THE WEB SITE DOMAIN A. NET, . ORG, OR. COM? WATCH FOR BIAS.

EVALUATING INFORMATION EVALUATING WEBSITES OBJECTIVITY IS THE INFORMATION ON THE WEB SITE BIASED? DOES IT ONLY PRESENT ONE VIEWPOINT? IS THE AUTHOR ASSOCIATED WITH A BIASED INSTITUTION OR ORGANIZATION? IS THE WEB SITE FREE OF ADVERTISING? ADVERTISING AND SCREEN CLUTTER MAY INDICATE A BIAS. WRITING STYLE IS THE WRITING CLEAR? IS THE WEBSITE FREE OF GRAMMATICAL, SPELLING AND OTHER ERRORS?

EVALUATING INFORMATION INTERNET VS. DATABASES LIBRARY RESEARCH DATABASES TYPES OF INFORMATION RETRIEVED: §LIBRARY CATALOG §ELECTRONIC BOOKS §REFERENCE BOOK ARTICLES §JOURNAL ARTICLES §MAGAZINE ARTICLES §NEWSPAPER ARTICLES

EVALUATING INFORMATION INTERNET VS. DATABASES INTERNET SEARCH ENGINES TYPES OF INFORMATION RETRIEVED: §VERY FEW JOURNAL, MAGAZINE & NEWSPAPER ARTICLES §CURRENT NEWS AND INFORMATION §COMPANY INFORMATION §GOVERNMENT INFORMATION §PERSONAL WEB PAGES §EMAIL, CHAT ROOMS, BLOGS

EVALUATING INFORMATION INTERNET VS. DATABASES REVIEW PROCESS ØLIBRARY RESEARCH DATABASES ALL INFORMATION CONTAINED IN LIBRARY DATABASES COMES FROM PUBLISHING GROUPS AND GOES THROUGH A REVIEW PROCESS BEFORE IT IS PUBLISHED IN ELECTRONIC OR PRINT FORMAT. THE INFORMATION HAS BEEN CHECKED FOR ACCURACY AND RELIABILITY BY THE PUBLISHER'S EDITORS. HOWEVER, THIS INFORMATION SHOULD ALSO BE EVALUATED, SINCE THERE IS PLENTY OF PUBLISHED INFORMATION THAT CAN BE INACCURATE OR BIASED. IT IS ALSO IMPORTANT TO DETERMINE IF THE INFORMATION IS RELEVANT OR APPROPRIATE FOR YOUR RESEARCH TOPIC.

EVALUATING INFORMATION INTERNET VS. DATABASES REVIEW PROCESS ØINTERNET SEARCH ENGINES INFORMATION FOUND THROUGH SEARCH ENGINES DOES NOT GO THROUGH A REVIEW PROCESS. ANYBODY CAN PUBLISH THEIR OPINIONS AND IDEAS ON THE INTERNET. WEB PAGES FOUND THROUGH SEARCH ENGINES SHOULD BE CAREFULLY EVALUATED FOR THEIR ACCURACY AND RELIABILITY.

EVALUATING INFORMATION INTERNET VS. DATABASES COST /ACCESSIBILITY ØLIBRARY RESEARCH DATABASES LIBRARY DATABASES ARE NOT FREE. THE LIBRARY PAYS EACH DATABASE SERVICE VENDOR (COMPANY) A YEARLY FEE FOR ACCESS TO THEIR DATABASES. ØINTERNET SEARCH ENGINES MOST INTERNET SEARCH ENGINES AND WEB PAGES FOUND THROUGH INTERNET SEARCH ENGINES ARE FREE. INTERNET SEARCH ENGINES WILL ALSO FIND LINKS TO PROPRIETARY WEB SITES OR DATABASES THAT ARE NOT FREE OR DO NOT ALLOW ACCESS WITHOUT A USERNAME AND PASSWORD.