1. Internet & Evaluation Frederic Murray, M.L.I.S. Instructional Services Librarian Al Harris Library SWOSU

2. The Internet is… a major presence in our daily lives constantly growing helping make an enormous amount of information available

3. Web Searching is easy because….. Speed Choice Availability 24/7 Always get an answer

4. Web searching is difficult because… Organization Quality control Reliability

5. 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

6. 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?

7. Step 1: Authority Web Pages – Credentials/Qualifications/Reputation – Who is responsible for content? Webmaster? Web team? Organization? Institution? Company?

8. Domain Names Which one is right? –www.whitehouse.com www.whitehouse.com –www.whitehouse.gov www.whitehouse.gov –www.whitehouse.net www.whitehouse.net –www.whitehouse.org www.whitehouse.org Whois.net –www.whois.net www.whois.net.gov.org.mil.com.edu.net.int Indicates a reliable domain name

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

10. Step 2: AccuracyAccuracy Web Pages –Can the information be verified? Links to credible sites Copyright Works Cited Fact check with a printed source

11. 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/

12. Step 4: CurrencyCurrency 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

13. Exercise: Evaluation Handoutt www.who.int/en/ www.dhmo.org www.genochoice.com www.martinlutherking.org www.aaip.org/ www.acusa.net/

14. Known for providing information on web traffic

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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.

18. 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

19. 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).

20. 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

21. 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.

22. 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.

23. The Machine is Us/ing Us

24. 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/http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/

25. Questions? Contact me: Frederic Murray, M.L.I.S. 744-7113 frederic.murray@swosu.edu

26. Thanks!