Becoming Information Literate & Training Your Mind to Think Critically

Jason DupreeAssistant ProfessorMLIS, University of OklahomaBFA, Phillips University

Head of Public ServicesAl Harris Library jason.dupree@swosu.edu

Today’s To-Do’s

1. Become Aware of Information Literacy

2. Streamlining Web Searches While Looking for Authoritative Info

3. Putting Information Under a Magnifying Glass

Part 1

InformationLiteracy

Information Literacy

• It is a set of abilities requiring individuals to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.

• Is knowing when and why you need information, where to find it, and how to evaluate, use and communicate it in an ethical manner.

Information Literacy

Library Instruction in the Information Age

• Varied Types & Sources of Information

• Critical evaluation is more important than ever

• Construct Your Search

Information Cycle

Catalogs, Databases, & Search Engines

• A comprehensive list of the books, periodicals, maps, and other materials in a given collection.

• A large, regularly updated file of digitized information related to a specific subject or field.

• Computer software designed to help the user locate information available at sites on the World Wide Web by selecting categories from a hierarchical directory of subjects (example: Yahoo!) or by entering appropriate keywords or phrases (Google).

Educational Goals for 21st Century

1. Teach Students to be self-directed & understand how to organize more & more of their own learning.

2. Teach our students the importance of global communication.

3. Teach our students to deal with massive amounts of information.

Part 2

Web Searching

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

• Always get an answer

Web searching is difficult because …

• Organization• Quality control• Reliability

How does Google Search work?

Google Search

• PageRank (algorithm)– 500 million variables– 2 Billion Terms

• Bias?

• Popularity is a Proxy for Importance

Personalized Search

• Google’s algorithm will suggest “what is best for you” – based on past searches.

• It’s as if we looked up the same topic in an encyclopedia and each found different entries.

Personalized Search

• Find information that is most likely to reinforce your own worldview

• We begin to lose dissenting opinion/conflicting points of view

• Yet search seems neutral, objective, unbiased.

Personalized Search & the Internet

• Google is likely to direct you to material with which you already agree.

“a search for proof about climate change will turn up different results for an environmental activist than it would for an oil company executive.”

“democracy requires citizens to see things from one another’s point of view, but instead we’re more and more enclosed in our own bubbles…offered parallel but separate universes.”

Google: Improve Your SearchesSite Specific Command

What it does: searches only specific domains

What to type: children's health site:edu

children's health site:gov

Anatomy of a URL

Web Domains

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

m– www.whitehouse.go

v– www.whitehouse.ne

t– www.whitehouse.or

g• Whois.net

– www.whois.net – allows you to conduct detective work on URLs

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

Indicates a reliable domain

Web Domain Usage

• Domain name appropriate for the content ?

• Restricted: .edu, .gov, .mil, a few country codes (.ca)

• Unrestricted: .com, .org, .net, most country codes (.us, .uk)

Special Web Searches

• Google Scholar• Academic Index• Infomine

Surface Web

Ever wonder what you might be missing?

Google2.7 billion searches per month

Indexes a trillion web pagesIndexes 16% of the Surface Web

Indexes 0.03% of the entireWorld Wide Web

Deep Web (or Hidden Web)

NO SEARCH ENGINES ALLOWED

54% of DWis databases

DW is 500 timeslarger than SW

And a 1,000 times

higher in quality too

Part 3

Evaluation of Information

Rationale for Evaluating What You Find on the Web

Documents can easily be copied and falsified or copied with omissions and errors, intentional or accidental.

If you want to use the Web for serious research, learn to cultivate the habit of healthy skepticism, of questioning everything you find with critical thinking.

The burden of evaluating information is on you – the reader/researcher.

Did You Know?

When Research Goes Wrong!

Jayson Blair/NYT Plagiarism Dan Rather/False Report on Bush

Photoshoping Martha’s Head Hwang Woo-suk/Human Cloned?

Newspaper

Magazine

Journal

Television

Evaluation of Information

4 Criteria:

AuthorityAccuracy

ObjectivityCurrency

Step 1: Authority

• Books & Articles– Who is

responsible for content?• Author(s)?• Editor(s)?• Publisher• Credentials

offered?

• Newspapers• Writer(s)• Editor(s)• Columnist(s)

• Web Pages– Who is

responsible for content?• Webmaster?• Web team?• Organization?• Institution?• Company?

Step 1: Authority

• Web Pages–

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

• Is it a commercial site?• Is it a government site?• Is it an education site?• Is it a news site?

Step 1: Authority: Questions

1. Who is responsible for the content? Domain name? What does this indicate?

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?

Step 2: Accuracy

• Books & Articles– Can the

information be verified?• Bibliography• Works Cited• Peer-reviewed

(journals only)

• Newspapers• Interviews• Eyewitness

Accounts

• Web Pages– Can the

information be verified?• Links to credible

sites• Copyright• Works Cited• Fact check with a

printed source

Step 2: Accuracy

• Web Pages– Can the information be verified?

• Look for Indicators of Quality Information– Links to credible sites– Copyright materials– Works Cited– Fact check with a printed source

» Always scrutinize the info you’re given

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

• Books & Articles– Biased or

Objective?• Persuasion/

Emotion• Author’s Point of

View

• Newspapers• Subscriptions ($)• Advertising ($)• Owners• CJR review

• Web Pages– Biased or

Objective?• Opinion/Fan sites• Sponsoring

Organization• Agendas• Political

Propaganda

Step 3: Objectivity

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

Do you trust the person(s) providing the information?

Why was this info put on the web? Inform, give facts?Explain, persuade?Sell, entice?

Step 4: Currency

• Books & Articles– When was it

published?• Copyright date• Important based

upon subject– Science– Social Science– Allied Health– Education– Pharmacy– Computer Science

• Newspapers published daily

• 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

• 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?

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?

End of First Presentation

Thank Youfor listening