research shmee-search

Below is my first draft of a conversation outline I plan to use when talking with my students about researching (a word - I fear- will soon be entirely archaic, replaced by "googling"). I think the following points should be presented to learners in a two-way discussion about online "researching."

If you're interested in why I have developed these guidelines, please read my previous post, "Don't let google take the learn out of learning!".

Evaluating information requires critical thinking, skeptism, and sound judgment. Knowing how to accurately and quickly determine the authority and relevance of information is of the utmost importance. The cartoon on the right is a spoof subtly alluding to the fact that the answers to everything, cannot simply be found by googling.

Unlike information published by publishing houses, the web is not facilitated for accuracy. Now, this is not to imply that all things published are true, not at all. But there is a big difference between the process of getting something published by a publishing house and publishing something on your own on the internet. When a publisher accepts ones work for publication they are in effect endorsing the product by putting their name brand on it. This acts as a (perhaps, increasingly thin) level of security as publishers don’t want to have their name next to untruths. To publish something on the internet, however, one needn’t apply to a publishing house, or even give their name!

To further complicate matters, lines between information and advertising are increasingly blurring. Hence, it is important to have a basis from which you can assess information.
Topics to consider when assessing internet sites’ credibility:

AUTHORITY – assess the official body responsible for the information on the site. Check whether or not the body can be confirmed off-line? Do they have a real address, phone number? Are they cited in scholarly works (one way to check is thru google scholar… if you find that the author is cited by reliable scholars, you can start assuming it is reliable)
* who manages this site? (This can sometimes be determined by the extension, like .edu) Consider if site include an official insignia of the organization sponsoring it? Also, can you contact the webmaster or sponsoring organization from within the site? Do they reply?
· an individual, what is there agenda? If there is no name associated with the content, this should throw up a red flag.
o is the author a professional in the field? (this must be diligently researched and not just checked by a google search)
o a non-scholar?
o an advocate? Check for persuasive language.
o Etc.
· an organization- what are their motives?
· A company-what are their motives?
· An academic organization
· Is the site a wiki??? If so, jump ship!

DEPTH OF COVERAGE/BALANCE/TONE - does this seem like a reliable site? Are there lots of typos? Is persuasive language employed?
* Does the author display an in-depth understanding of the topic which demonstrates the author's familiarity with the subject?
* Does the site correctly cite other sources? Are they linked?
* Perspectives
· Does the site include alternative ideas, philosophies, or perspectives?
· Can you identify the goals of the site?
· Are these goals clearly stated? If not, this may be an important indicator.

ACCURACY
* Is the material comparable to related sources?
* Does the source include a bibliography and/or citations that can be used for comparing or verifying data and other information?
* Is the information in the text poorly presented, consider associated graphics as well.
* Do many mechanical errors (e.g., grammatical errors, typos, etc.) appear in the text? Errors suggest the author might be careless in presenting information.
* Did you discover the site via a search engine? If so, how does the search engine you used look for information and, if relevant, rate the sites it retrieves?

Kathy Shrock has developed some excellent worksheets and guides to this end for students of all ages. Her site is here.