Evaluating Information
All information retrieved in a search needs to be carefully evaluated, to establish its currency and accuracy, but especially when searching for information on the internet.
The internet is a resource unlike any before it in that anyone can post anythng anywhere for any motive, with very few checks and balances to qualify it as reliable.
Example: Wikipedia.org
The online ecyclopedia Wikipedia, whlst heavily used, has more than once been recently associated with information of a dubious nature, as the following links demonstrate.
Braindead obituarists hoaxed by Wikipedia (link to theregister.co.uk)
The 10 biggest Wikipedia hoaxes (link to timesonline.co.uk)
Always second guess your findings. Use your critical thinking skills to consider: -
- What motives did the author have ? Is the author affiliated to any particular organisation?
- Is the information biased? Is the information provided fact, or just the author’s own particular opinions?
- Use websites you know are reliable
- Is the information up to date? For websites, check for a last updated date.
The resources listed below contain information on how to obtain reliable information from the internet
- http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/detective/ is a great free Internet tutorial to learn to discern the good, the bad and the ugly for your online research and looks at the critical thinking required when using the Internet for research and offers practical advice on evaluating the quality of web sites
- http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/ provides free Internet tutorials to help you learn how to get the best from the Web for your education and research
