Prove it! Presented by Roy Manager NUS B.A (Merit) NTU MSc (Info Studies)

Pros of Internet Free of charge (NLB - 3 cents per minute) 24 / 7 available (unlike library closes at 9 pm) Lots of information Easy to use Good for current info (news) & general info “Good Enough” e.g. find food, maps, etc

WWW - World Wide Web

Cons of Internet (80/20 rule) Reliability? Who does quality control? Con-man (evaluate internet scams) Authority? Not so good for Scholarly, Specialized info (Good stuff is there but must dig deeper)

WWW - Wild, Wild West

Cat joke

PW Link?

Website evaluation Which one is the best?

.gov .net .edu

.org .mil .com

What does .com stand for?

Team Members

1) Ivan Chew - Project Sponsor 2) Roy Won - Project Manager 3) Michelle Kwok - Dy Project Manager 4) Rohayah Mohd. Lani - WR rep 5) Audrey Chng - WR rep 6) Joycelyn Kee - CR rep 7) Soon Huat - NR rep 8) Peter Chan - NR rep

Team Members

Bonsai Kitten

From Factiva Database

Over-reliance on Net has students floundering in media literacy test A CERTAIN species of octopus in the Pacific north-west lives in a tree. Sounds ridiculous? Well, 34 out of 35 Singapore students who read the bogus website http:// zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/ believed such a creature actually exists. The students, aged 13 to 19, were unable to distinguish fact from fiction in a Straits Times test of media literacy among youth. The spoof site, set up as an online hoax in 1998 but now used by institutions to test Internet literacy, fooled nearly all the 35 local students into thinking the tree octopus story was 'well-supported by scientific research' and 'factual'.

From Factiva Database

Evaluating Resources Criteria Questions to ask Authority • Who published the material?

• Are the author’s and publisher’s qualification documented? • Can they be contacted (via email or other method?) • Where does the document originate – is it from an educational institution, a government or a company? • Is there a bibliography?

Accuracy • Are there any factual errors, or outdated facts? • Is the information cited correctly? • Are there any errors, inconsistencies or slip-ups in the references? • Are there any language errors?

Importance of citation – language of academia – international standard – common language

Currency • When was the information published? • When was the material last updated? • Were the links still current?

Objectivity • What is the purpose of the document – was it created for commercial, educational or other reasons? • How much of the content is opinion based? • What are objectives of the author?

Coverage • If there are links, are they evaluated in any way (i.e. short write-up) and are they complementary to the information on the site? • What is the balance between textual and graphical information? • Is there any historical/geographical bias in the sources used, and the treatment of the subject?

Wikipedia® Should not be quoted in academic

research, DO NOT CITE IT!

But useful starting point to authoritative sources/references

Straits Times - 1 Apr 2007

Get keywords, ideas, background info but do not trust 100%

Do your own evaluation & assess

NLB eDatabases

How to score A? Story Use a varied and wide range of reliable sources:

-Books (available at all libraries)

-Newspapers (Factiva, NewspaperSG)

-Encyclopedia (Britannica)

-Historical Info (History Database Centre)

-Geographic Info (World Atlas)

-Journals (Ebsco, Proquest, JSTOR)

-Websites (credible sites)

Accessing NLB eResources

eResources.nlb.gov.sg

Accessing NLB eResources

Registration through Internet

Accessing NLB eResources

Select Secondary Schools

Accessing NLB eResources

Factiva

Global newspapers e.g. The New York Times, The Australian Local content e.g. The Straits Times, Today, The Edge, Lianhe Zaobao, Shin Min Full access only from the library

Has Straits Times from 1989 to present Day (at libraries only)

Limited access from home due to copyright (Factiva $$$)

Internet usage at libraries is 3 cents per minute ($1.80 per hour)

Interface from home - Limited Access

search operators “ ”: to search for phrases, use quotation marks Eg “dog ate my homework” – Decrease hits AND: results will contain all the words or phrases Decrease hits OR: results will contain one or more of the words or phrases Increase hits NOT: results will not contain the word or phrase after: Decrease hits * Wildcard - Toilet*

AND – Decrease hits

Lee Kuan Yew AND Singapore

AND – Decrease hits

Lee Kuan Yew Singapore AND

11,874 hits

OR – Increase hits

Lee Kuan Yew OR Singapore

OR – Increase hits

Lee Kuan Yew Singapore OR

381,518 hits

NOT – Decrease hits

Lee Kuan Yew NOT Singapore

NOT – Decrease hits

Lee Kuan Yew Singapore NOT

1,598 hits

Toilet

5,859 hits

Toilet*

Wildcard - *

8,573 hits

Synonyms for toilets?

Always cross check your sources

NewspaperSG

From Home Has SPH watermark Why? Copyright

From Library – no watermark

Encyclopedia Britannica

a general English language encyclopedia

widely regarded as the most scholarly of encyclopedias

good source to check for facts and information

History Database Centre

World Geography and Culture

63

64

65

66

Singapore is ranked 18th in the World Spends 4.9% of GDP on Defence

EBSCOHost

Provides full-text for over 4,500 publications, including full-text for more than 3,600 peer-reviewed journals in subject areas such as biology, chemistry, engineering, physics, religion, arts and sociology.

Risks of Casinos – good for business, bad for society?

Teens and Aids and Singapore

Automatic citation

Proquest

Click to see full text

What is a person who cannot smell called?”

Advisory Service: Some questions asked by users

When and why was chewing gum banned in Singapore? Will I be arrested if I consume chewing gum?

?

• Why doesn't superglue stick to it's tube?

I am looking for newspaper articles on MOE’s “Teach Less, Learn More.”

• What is does JK in the author’s name J K Rowling stand for?

Quote Expert