reliability on the internet
TRANSCRIPT
February 10-12, 2004 updated October 2006
Take off the Blinders!Evaluating Internet Reliability
By Naomi Bates
Updated October 2006
February 10-12, 2004 updated October 2006
Let’s first look at three generations of who we’re dealing
with – then the what
February 10-12, 2004 updated October 2006
Baby boomers
• Born between mid 1940’s to early 1960’s• Lived through the Beatles era• Are the most powerful members of United
States society today politically, culturally and academically
• Beginning of television, production of the hydrogen bomb, first successful satellite in space, first copy machine created
February 10-12, 2004 updated October 2006
Generation X
• Born between early 60’s to late 70’s
• Lived in a world without AIDS
• Teen years lived in the early to mid eighties• Lived without microwaves and cable
television, remembers using a cassette recorder, and purchasing the newest technology – the VCR.
February 10-12, 2004 updated October 2006
The Millennials
• Born from the late 1970’s to the present
• Last generation of people wholly born in the 20th century
• Has lived with access to the Internet, cell phones, IM’ing, DVDs, Ipods/mp3, MTV and satellite television
February 10-12, 2004 updated October 2006
Typical Search Engines
February 10-12, 2004 updated October 2006
Marketing for Millennials
February 10-12, 2004 updated October 2006
Newer Types of Search Engines
37.com
February 10-12, 2004 updated October 2006
Newest type of search engine- Cluster engine
February 10-12, 2004 updated October 2006
Hybrid engine
One major engine that has combined typical searching with clustering effects. Most radically changed search engine since its conception:
February 10-12, 2004 updated October 2006
Typical Search
•Keyword: vegetable root
Use quotation marks around the words to create a better search!
February 10-12, 2004 updated October 2006
Another typical search
•Most people surf through the “Top 20 Results” websites without going further!
•KEYWORD:AIDS facts
February 10-12, 2004 updated October 2006
Can you decide?
February 10-12, 2004 updated October 2006
The Dreaded “S” word -
Let’s search for cool sites on…..
Whichita falls
Spelling
How about….
psikologie
February 10-12, 2004 updated October 2006
Problems with searchesFootball research:Superbowl XXX
This occurs within every search engine, including:
Yahoo
MSN
February 10-12, 2004 updated October 2006
Hits on keywordRoosevelt
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
hits per MILLION
GoogleYahooMSNAsk
February 10-12, 2004 updated October 2006
Other common problems
• Webpage made by another student, not authority: keyword “medieval clothing”
• Webpage biased: keyword “holocaust”
February 10-12, 2004 updated October 2006
Wiki what?
What is wiki?
Derives from the Hawaiian language meaning : fast
February 10-12, 2004 updated October 2006
What to Look For:• Validity: author, contact information provided,
link to author’s homepage• Currency: when was the site first created and
when last updated?• Content: what is depth of information offered?
Are there link to other useful/reliable websites?• Purpose: Is the site trying to persuade you?
Educate you? Market a product? Are there any biases?
• Accuracy: Citation/credit should be used for all sources mentioned
February 10-12, 2004 updated October 2006
Which Websites Can You Trust?
Online databases from educational companies can be used as websites or hard copy sources: