Research Methods & Evaluation for the Internet Generation

Jane Long MLIS, University of OklahomaMA, English, Wright State University

Reference Services LibrarianAl Harris Library jane.long@swosu.edu

The Internet is…

• a major presence in our daily lives• constantly growing• helping make an enormous

amount of information available

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

• We always get an answer

Web searching is difficult because …

• Organization• Quality control• Reliability

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

Government Web Tools

• USA.Gov, (formerly FirstGov) director of federal gov’t websites

• SoonerSearch, a portal to Oklahoma gov’t websites

• Unclesam, a version of Google that searches only gov’t websites

• Infomine, access to university level research on gov’t info

The Machine is Us/ing Us

Evaluation Is Essential• 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?

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).

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

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.”

Journal of American History 93.1 (2006): 117-146.

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…okay to start,

terrible place to stop. • Benefits its active participants, not its

readers.

Just for Fun: More Wikis

• Conservapedia• Lostpedia• Wookiepedia• Congresspedia• Uncyclopedia

Step 1: Authority

• Web Pages–

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

• Webmaster?• Web team?• Organization?• Institution?• Company?

Step 1: Authority: Questions

1. Do you recognize the author's name? Is there an author's name?

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?

Domain Names

• Does evaluation help us make choices regarding a site?

• Whois.net– www.whois.net– This website

gives us information about the owner of sites.

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

Indicates a reliable domain name

Step 2: Accuracy

• Web Pages– Can the information be verified?

• Links to credible sites• Copyright• Works Cited• Fact check with a printed source

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

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

Do you trust the author or organization providing the information?

Step 3: Objectivity

Do you trust the author or organization providing the information?

Determine the aim of the author or organization publishing the site.

What is the purpose of the web site?

1. Is it advertisement for a product or service?2. Is it directed toward political purposes?3. Is it trying to sway public opinion on a social

issue?

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?

Exercise: Evaluation Handout• Institute for Historical Review

– http://www.ihr.org/• Pinehearst Inc.

– http://pinehearstresearch.com/index.shtml• Southern Poverty Law Center

– http://splcenter.org/index.jsp • Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu

– http://www.deloitte.com/• Harry Ransom Center

– http://www.hrc.utexas.edu• American University for the Humanities

– http://www.auh.edu/

Known for providing information on web traffic

• Larry Page & Sergey Brin/ Grad Students 1998

• Mission: "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.“

• 2009: 20 billion dollar corporation

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

• Google Scholar provides a simple way to search for scholarly literature. The search crosses many disciplines and sources--peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles--from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations.

Google Scholar

• Works best for Citations• Restrictions to Content

– Now included in SWOSU’s list of databases

– We’re working on improving access

– Example: Greening Community Resources

Interesting news sites on the web• Christian Science Monitor -

www.csmonitor.com• USA Today - www.usatoday.com• British Broadcasting Company

(BBC) - http://news.bbc.co.uk/• Washington Post -

www.washingtonpost.com• Slate - www.slate.com

Contact me: Jane Long

• 774-3030• jane.long@swosu.edu• http://faculty.swosu.edu/jane.long/

• To help us improve our instruction please take the following survey at the end of today's class—October 8, 2009: Click here to take the survey

Questions?

Thank you!