Internet The Good The Bad The Ugly Adapted

Internet: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly Adapted from Internet Detective http: //www. vts. intute. ac. uk/detective/

Common mistakes made by students: n n n They rely on Internet searches for their research and ignore other key sources They don't critically evaluate the quality of the information they find They copy information from the Internet and don't acknowledge their sources

At this level of your education you will be expected to: n n n Be able to do your own independent research Locate and use a wide range of information sources Critically evaluate the information you find Synthesize information to form your own original piece of work Present a balanced and well-informed argument leading to your own conclusions.

The Good: Academic Publishing n Directory of Open Access Journals n n Free Journals n n www. doaj. org www. knowledgecenter. unr. edu Guide to Internet Resources for Religion n www. wabashcenter. wabash. edu

The Partially Good: Search Engines n Subject Directories www. lii. org n http: //infomine. ucr. edu/ n http: //directory. google. com/ n www. scholar. google. com n www. books. google. com n

The Bad n n n Anyone can put something on the Internet - an amateur or an expert From anywhere in the World - be it the United Kingdom or Uruguay They can say anything they like - be it true or false And leave it there as long as they like even if it goes out of date Or change it without warning - perhaps even remove it completely

The Bad n Meta Search Engine n n n www. clusty. com www. dogpile. com Search Engines n n n www. google. com www. kartoo. com www. altavista. com www. alltheweb. com www. hotbot. com

The Ugly n Internet hoaxes n n n Urban legends n n n www. preparingforemergencies. co. uk/ http: //www. whirledbank. org Crime warnings: These warn of supposed crime waves eg. attacks on females, dangerous criminals at large, new types of crime sweeping the nation Free offers: These claim you can receive rewards from various companies by simply passing the email on to other people. Common lures include free mobile phones and gift vouchers. Scams and frauds n Nigerian "419" email fraud: These are emails from Africa offering to share huge sums of money with you if you let them use your bank to help them get it out of the country. They ask for your bank account details and an administration fee. But it's a scam. If you comply and pay a small administration fee, then there'll be some complication and more money will be requested - again and again. The big money for you will never materialise. At worst you might get an invite to Africa where being held to ransom is a further threat.

The Ugly n The World Trade Organization n www. gatt. org n http: //www. wto. org/

www. martinlutherking. org Why the King Holiday Should be Repealed! Black Invention Myths Learn more about Kwanzaa!! My Awakening: Chapter 18 Jews, Communism and Civil Rights by David Duke

WHO? Look For Clues n n n n Author details is there a biographical statement that lists their job title, contact details, qualifications and publications? Is this on the Web site of their employer or is it their own personal web site? Details about the publisher, sponsor or developer of the site. The About Us section, Mission Statement or Help these might help establish their history, affiliations and standpoint. The Contact Details - is there a physical address which verifies claims of authorship? Photographs of the author or offices of the organization. A Copyright Statement to help establish the owner. Consider how you came by the site- was it a link from a trusted source?

WHAT? Look for Clues n n n Bias and controversial statements that are unsubstantiated - use your own knowledge to question content and if it goes against what you know then look for evidence to back it up. Research evidence - to back up the arguments and assertions presented (eg. look for good quality research methods, research data and reviews of past literature in the field. ). Proper references - especially in academic works - these should follow conventional citation practices and come from authoritative sources. Mistakes and inaccuracies: if you spot any of these it should be a cause for concern - an editor or reviewer should have picked these up so maybe it hasn't been properly checked and cannot be relied upon in other ways? Dates - for when it was written, published and last updated - how useful is it for your purposes?

WHERE? Look for clues n n "Home" buttons belonging to the site - by clicking on a "Home" button you will see the front page of the site Navigation buttons - i. e. "back", "forward", "previous" or "next" - following these can give you a feel for where you are Site maps - give an overview of the structure of the whole site. They are very useful navigation aids Contact details - the address, email address or phone area code can give useful clues about the location of the site

http: //www. law. bris. ac. uk/researc h/interests. html n n n http Transfer protocol (hypertext) www. law. bris server name ac organizational code (academic) n n uk country code (united kingdom) n n n Edu / gov / com / net / org Au: Australia, fr: France research Interests. html directory file name

Examples n http: //jchemed. chem. wisc. edu/ 1. Looking at the "About JCE" information 2. Checking out the URL 3. Looking at the Content 4. Looking at the Subscriptions Information

“Angels” n n n http: //www. spirithome. com/angels. html http: //www. crystalinks. com/angels. html http: //www. christiananswers. net/qacb/acb-t 005. html http: //www. pantheon. org/articles/a/angels. html http: //www. beliefnet. com/Inspiration/Ang els/index. aspx

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