Communication has been improving a lot up to now. Nowadays we have many possibilities to exchange information, which I think is a real privilege for us as people of the 21st century.
Man has been working hard to improve knowledge and to find ways to spread and share old and new information. In particular, telecommunication is spreading so fast that we can hardly be informed about every enhancement.
Internet is one of the best inventions for communication in my opinion. It provides many different sources of information and everybody has the chance to express freely and add a personal contribution to general knowledge. Today the amount of information on the net is really huge, almost unlimited, and Internet has become one of the most used sources for research.
But this freedom can become dangerous when the information you find is confusing, wrong or even voluntarily misleading. So it becomes necessary to judge what you come across and verify if the source is reliable or not.
Apart from books, I often use Internet when I need to do research. Of course, I’m well aware that I may find all kinds of information, so I always need to check if what I’m reading can be trustworthy. I usually do this by doing extra research on the author of the essay I’m reading or the organization which published the article. Usually big names grant us reliability.
Another way I learnt is to focus on the domains: for example, if you look for documents which end with “.edu” or “.ac.uk” you’re quite sure that they come from British or American Universities (especially if they are “.pdf” files).
Sometimes the layout of the website can be useful, as well. Usually, sites which are clear, clean and well structured are more likely to be official or at least “more serious”. In detail, I tend to trust more those websites which add bibliography (or give a short biography of the author) and those with useful official links.
Moreover, another thing I tend to check is if the site is regularly updated or has been recently updated: you could come across interesting contents which are no more valid just because they’re old or they have changed.
The pages I read about judging online sources gave me the opportunity to reflect about the criteria I use and understand how important it is to pay attention to them. I had the chance to learn some new criteria concerning the accuracy of information and the main goals of the site and the author, which I will surely use in the future. However, the aspect that mostly caught my attention is authorship: I discovered the “Internet Directory of Published Writers”, which I think can be really useful if you need to be sure that the article you intend to use for your work is reliable and relevant.
Man has been working hard to improve knowledge and to find ways to spread and share old and new information. In particular, telecommunication is spreading so fast that we can hardly be informed about every enhancement.
Internet is one of the best inventions for communication in my opinion. It provides many different sources of information and everybody has the chance to express freely and add a personal contribution to general knowledge. Today the amount of information on the net is really huge, almost unlimited, and Internet has become one of the most used sources for research.
But this freedom can become dangerous when the information you find is confusing, wrong or even voluntarily misleading. So it becomes necessary to judge what you come across and verify if the source is reliable or not.
Apart from books, I often use Internet when I need to do research. Of course, I’m well aware that I may find all kinds of information, so I always need to check if what I’m reading can be trustworthy. I usually do this by doing extra research on the author of the essay I’m reading or the organization which published the article. Usually big names grant us reliability.
Another way I learnt is to focus on the domains: for example, if you look for documents which end with “.edu” or “.ac.uk” you’re quite sure that they come from British or American Universities (especially if they are “.pdf” files).
Sometimes the layout of the website can be useful, as well. Usually, sites which are clear, clean and well structured are more likely to be official or at least “more serious”. In detail, I tend to trust more those websites which add bibliography (or give a short biography of the author) and those with useful official links.
Moreover, another thing I tend to check is if the site is regularly updated or has been recently updated: you could come across interesting contents which are no more valid just because they’re old or they have changed.
The pages I read about judging online sources gave me the opportunity to reflect about the criteria I use and understand how important it is to pay attention to them. I had the chance to learn some new criteria concerning the accuracy of information and the main goals of the site and the author, which I will surely use in the future. However, the aspect that mostly caught my attention is authorship: I discovered the “Internet Directory of Published Writers”, which I think can be really useful if you need to be sure that the article you intend to use for your work is reliable and relevant.
4 commenti:
Hi Fred!
I also pointed out the “Internet Directory of Published Writers” in my post. I was catched by its description and I decided to try it. But I did't find any information about the author I was interested in. But does this mean that what he writes is not reliable? I don't think so. And everybody can join the directory... So who can say that only good writers can be found there? Am I right? So, maybe this tool is not that good as it seems to be, after all... =(
Hey Fred!!
What a nice post!
I agree with what u said about the many possibilities of information exchange through the Internet..but I above all agree with u when u said that it is dangerous because sometimes information is not trustworthy..and this aspect makes it more difficult to do research.
I didn't know about the "Internet Directory of Published Writers"
..it should be quite useful as a tool..
Thanks for the advice..and thanks to Eva for her advice on the reliability of this Web Directory...
see u guys!
Hi Fred! Your post is really well done. I agree with you about the possibility we have today of communication: Internet has really changed our way of living in my opinion. In the past they could look for information only in books!!! It seems quite impossible for us!! We use more or less the same criteria for evaluating sources. Perhaps, I don't pay so much attention to notice is a site gives a bibliography or not. Actually, it is important because if someone gives further information or advice or just want to make clear to everyone where he found his sources, it is a sign of reliability! Thank you also for the site you suggested: it is interesting and useful!
bye
Hi Federico!
I like what you wrote about the Internet. The Web is really fundamental in order to share our ideas with others and to get information about a subject. We can all collaborate to create the Web, and this is great!
As regards the criteria you use to choose helpful online sources, I agree with what you wrote. We should always focus on the author. As you pointed out, usually important authors grant us that the source is reliable (it’s not always true, but it’s a good criterion). If we have the author's name, but he/she isn’t very famous, we should always search for more information about him/her. You said we can read the author's biography and bibliography (if this information is available). True! If we don't have this information, we could also search for his/her previous writings on the Internet. Anyway, the site usually has a section containing information about the author.
Like you, I find domains very important to know if the site is trustworthy. Anyway, first I check the urls and the domains of the sites, second I focus on the author and on the other things. When we use Google we can find many websites so having a look at the url and the domain can be useful to find out what sites are worth visiting and checking. You’re right in pointing out the importance of updates too. Do you think that the partiality of information can also be a good criterion?
Eva and you mentioned an interesting site. Thank you for your suggestion!
See you!
Giovanna
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