Research Reliability

Avoid looking like chicken little! Research Reliability

Sue Cornett and Matt BodieSPC Communications and Library Depts.1Students will know . . . Basic terminology having to do with evaluating websites for credibility and relevance Domain namesURLsTarget audienceBoolean searchKey wordsSearch engines vs. databasesHome pages vs. content pages

Students will be able to . . .Navigate a web site Conduct an effective search using techniques such as Boolean operators, quotation marks, and * symbolsIdentify the target audience and purpose of a page as part of their evaluation of its qualityEvaluate websites using generally accepted criteria

Methodology:Pretest: objective and analytical portionsPractice exercises using websitesGroup projectPosttest

B and C will field test the following sample this summer in a Comp 2 section. First, find out what you know rather than what you THINK you know.

Pre-testAnswer the following on your scantron or in Angel quiz, using a pencil only or computer. Choose A for true and B for false. 1. When readers evaluate a web site, having a contact address and/or a phone number is irrelevant to the sites credibility. 2. Websites that omit the names of specific authors should not be used for adult level research. 3. One of the best ways of evaluating a web site is to look at the domain name and see if it ends in .edu or .org.

Keep going . . . True or false?4. A website that has a URL that ends in .org is usually more credible than one that ends in .com5. A Boolean search uses the words and or or not. 6. Evaluating a web sites target audience and purpose is an important part of determining its relevance to an online search.

Multiple choice: choose the correct answer; mark your scantron. 7. How many key words are best to use when searching the web in general?a. 1 to 2b. 3 to 4c. 6 to 7d. 8 to 10

8. What does the use of quotation marks around a search string do? a. tells the search engine to look for all of the words some place in the web pageb. tells the search engine to look for all of the words in the same exact order in the pagec. tells the search engine to look for those words in pages where they are used most oftend. tells the search engine to look for book titles

Keep going. . . 9. What allows a searcher to find the most carefully vetted and evaluated information available through the internet?a. Search engines that go everywhere, such as Google or Yahoob. Wikipedia because of its huge range of contributorsc. Specialized databases available through academic and library sourcesd. Online media sites and blogs that take no advertising

10. Which of the following is true?a. Search engines take the searcher to the beginning of a web site.b. Home pages are valuable for helping a searcher find out the mission behind a web site. c. Often a searcher can judge a website by the professional look of the site and the name of the organization who posts the site. d. Links to other places that are part of a website are irrelevant to evaluating the quality of a site.

9On your own paper, answer each of the following in one or two sentences: 11. How would you go about finding information about a subject of interest or controversy? 12. What makes a source of information credible or believable?13. What is the difference between a database and a search engine? 14. What are the parts of a web page and what does that tell the reader? 15. What are the weakness of using open websites and popular periodicals for sources of information?

Time to sharpen those skills:

Practice 1: Go to Google.com and type in slu, and Anatomy of a Web Page. Choose the first thing listed there. Answer as many of the following as possible: 1. Under the heading Anatomy of a Web Page, find the difference between a home page and a content page. Be able to tell what the footer is and why it is important. 2. Under the heading with the word Relevance, find how evaluating a web sites potential audience and purpose helps a person decide if its a good site for an academic paper.3. When evaluating a web site for its authority, what are the three categories a reader should investigate? What is the weakness of some advocacy or .org pages?4. What are the 4 basic Web Page Types listed and how is each useful?5. What is a major weakness of using commercial news pages for research?

Submit your answers using sentences.

Practice 2: Go to Google.com and type in USC and Bare Bones 101: A basic tutorial. Read lessons 4-7. Then answer the following: 1. What part of speech should you use as key search terms? Why should avoid conjunctions (words such as and & or) or descriptive words such as modifiers? (Do you know what a Boolean search is?)2. How many keywords for a search string should you use and why? 3. What is a truncated or wild card word search and what symbol on the keyboard tells the computer to do a wild card search? 4. When do you use quote marks as part of your search string and why? When do you use the word and & how does that differ from using quotation marks around a group of words?5. What are stop list words and what does a searcher do with them?6. Finally, what is the most critical part of all internet searches? Why?

Submit your answers using sentences.

Practice 3:A short project using the tools youve learned.Topic: Germs!Reporters questions: Who is a source? What are they? When are they a problem? Where do they appear? Why are they so prevalent? How do they get there? So what?

Practice 3: Get with a group of 2 or 3. Each will find the answers to some of the previous questions about germs and college classrooms using websites, and then compare/contrast with each other the results. Pick the groups consensus as to best source.

Group work: One member should post the group findings to a discussion board. Post a description of the best source using correct documentation.

(Review the form at Purdue OWL or the Library Online.)Another member should add a comment on the credibility of the source using for criteria what he or she has learned.

Group work: The group should look at another groups source. Comment on the credibility of that source using the criteria the group has learned.

Have the group submit a paragraph describing its search strategy and favorite source. Explain why the strategy was effective or less than effective.

Using databases: Under construction

A pre-test and practices involving databases, peer reviewed journals, controlled vocabulary, the cloud, Ref.works, citation generators, etc.