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NOT GETTING CAUGHT IN THE WEB: CREDIBLE SOURCES ON THE WEB
Megan Lowe, Reference Librarian
Session Overview
Survey of Current Attitudes How Do You Feel About Web + Research?
Evaluating Websites A Selection of Credible Websites
…and how to find more! Q & A Feedback
How Do Feel About Web + Research NOW?
Survey of Attitudes - Before
Do you currently allow students to use Internet resources in research assignments?
If no, why not? If yes, are there any restrictions?
As in: no Wikipedia, no .coms, etc.? Do you already have a list of sites you permit? Do you have to approve Internet resources? Or can they use anything, as long as they
document correctly? Do you use the Internet for research?
Students and the Internet
Most of us don’t trust students to use the Internet because the students DON’T
Recognize the importance of authority Critically assess resources for scholarliness Understand the research process Realize the dangers inherent to the Internet Understand bias and the need for
objectivity Comprehend the provenance of ideas and
concepts
You and Your Students
I’m not going to tell you that you should let your students use the Internet for research
I’m here to equip you with resources so you can equip your students as you see fit
There are two ways to approach equipping your students with regard to using the Internet for research, if you are inclined to do so
Students and the Internet: Way #1 The method you use really depends on
how much confidence you have in your students – and that might change semester to semester, or even class to class in a given semester
If you have a group of students you have confidence in, then one approach would be to let them use the Internet, provided they carefully evaluate the websites they encounter
Way #1: Evaluating Websites
There is a simplified list of criteria that students can use to assess websites
These criteria are based on features inherent to what we would recognize as scholarly resources
But they are generalized to account for the gray areas that occur in resources on the Web, since publishing on the Web isn’t regulated in a meaningful way (beyond legally speaking)
Evaluating Websites: Criteria Accuracy – is the information verifiable in
other, independent resources? Authority – what are the credentials of
the author(s) or organization(s)? Coverage – how in-depth is the resource?
What is its scope? Currency – how old is the information
itself? How old is the resource? Objectivity – is there an obvious bias
involved?
Students and the Internet: Way #2 If you do not trust a group of students to
effectively evaluate websites, then it may be easier to simply restrict them to certain resources
The next section of this presentation will cover several sites where students can find scholarly information
The sites either serve as portals to info or provide info directly
Way #2: Portals to Info
Portals don’t produce the info themselves; they usually serve as aggregators, providing organized lists of resources
Some of the best are created by institutions of higher learning, professional organizations, and even librarians (not that I am biased or anything)
Often times, one doesn’t have to go far to find good portals for websites
Portals to Info: Close to Home All of the full-time reference librarians at ULM
have created subject guides for the departments they serve as liaisons
They have vetted the resources they’ve listed on their sites, so you know you can trust them
These subject guides can be accessed from the Library’s home page or through the individual pages of the librarians
These subject guides are not standardized; they don’t all contain the same information or look the same.
But all of them contain websites that have been vetted by the librarian responsible for the guide.
The Pharmacy/Health Sciences listing is separate.
http://www.ulm.edu/library/subjectguide.html
Keep scrolling – every department is covered!
Most of these are either created by or associated with universities or libraries.
Portals to Info: The BUBL
The BUBL describes itself as “an Internet-based information service for the UK higher education community”
As of April 2011 it is no longer being updated unfortunately, but it will be maintained
It covers all academic subject areas using the Dewey Decimal System
It was created and is maintained by the Centre for Digital Library Research of University of Strathclyde-Glasgow
ipl2: Information You Can Trust ipl2 is the result of the merger of the
Internet Public Library and the Librarians’ Internet Index
It is hosted by Drexel University’s College of Information Science & Technology
A consortium of colleges and universities with information science programs comprise the entity responsible for developing and maintaining ipl2
Voice of the Shuttle: VoS
VoS began in 1994 as a static collection of links and has evolved into a searchable database of resources
It covers all academic subject areas (and then some!)
It is also a wonderful resource for faculty and scholars in general, offering links to resources on academia, conferences, and related concerns
It is affiliated with the University of California, Santa Barbara, English Department
Aggregators: Similar to Databases Technically, the portals themselves are also
aggregators, in the sense that they pull together multiple resources for the researcher
But the resources we’re about to see don’t list resources like the portals – the user simply inputs keywords, and the resources return results, like a database or an Internet search engine…AND the results are scholarly, and oftentimes periodical articles NOT websites
Google Scholar
Google Scholar is a specialized Google search engine that focuses on scholarly documents (NOT sites)
It features books and periodical articles
There’s no guarantee of full-text for a result, but it does clearly display when full-text is available
It even indicates when a result is from a database like JSTOR, and if the searcher has valid access to the database, it’ll link the searcher to the article
INFOMINE
Infomine calls itself “a virtual library of Internet resources relevant to faculty, students, and research staff at the university level”
It was built and is maintained by librarians from a variety of universities and colleges from around the nation
It draws from “databases, electronic journals, electronic books, bulletin boards, mailing lists, online library card catalogs, articles, directories of researchers, and many other types of information”
http://infomine.ucr.edu/
http://infomine.ucr.edu/
Something a Little Different: DOAJ
DOAJ, or the Directory of Open Access Journals, serves as portal to vetted scholarly (peer-reviewed), open-access journals
It covers all disciplines
It’s all FREE, though some journals may require you to create an account (which is also free) for access
It updates constantly, as new journals are added
Many of them are in English or offer English translations of their contents
http://www.doaj.org/
Something Else: Open J-Gate
Open J-Gate is like the DOAJ: it has similar aims and goals, is global, and updated every day
¾ of their journals are peer-reviewed, scholarly journals; they offer professional/industry journals, which toe the scholarly line
It indexes “8959 open access journals, with links to full text”
It offers article-level searching and subject-browsing
http://www.openj-gate.com
http://www.openj-gate.com/
The White Elephant: Wikipedia
Wikipedia is simultaneously one of the most useful tools I’ve ever encountered and one of the most frustrating
It has its uses in the context of research, but in an indirect way
Wikipedia content is good for a crash course in basic concepts, ideas, biographies, etc. – getting acquainted with the basics
The real treasures of Wikipedia are the notes, references, and external links
Good for a crash course, but it’s not a replacement for a real understanding of the topic. But this can help
students quickly orient themselves contextually.
Many of these are legitimate websites, and they are linked and ready for access. Where they aren’t available on the web, researchers can still get references to look up, such as the books.
Several of these are from Ole Miss, Facts on File, or other respectable .org sites.
More references researchers can check against library holdings or request through Interlibrary Loan.
Many of these are legitimate websites, and they are linked and ready for access. Where they aren’t available on the web, researchers can still get references to look up, such as the books.
Several of these are from Ole Miss, scholarly journals, and other .edu sites.
Final Comments on Wikipedia If you let your students use Wikipedia,
be clear – say they can use it to get to resources via notes, references, and external links, but not the content itself
Wikipedia is also good for connecting researchers with public domain documents, including often-studied literary, historical, and scientific texts
Final Comments on Wikipedia
And let me be clear: I’m NOT saying you should let your students use Wikipedia…
But I think there are ought to be a more universal attitude with regards to whether it should be allowed, at least within departments
Students get mixed messages when one professor says it’s okay to use, and another say it’s not, and then others take the indirect approach
Q & A
Survey of Attitudes - After
Will you feel more comfortable about letting students use the Internet for research now?
If no, what doubts or concerns remain?
If yes, on what terms? With evaluation framework List of permitted websites Must approve sites
Will this session affect how you do research on the Internet?
Not Getting Caught in the Web
Presentation URL
http://www.ulm.edu/~lowe/crediblewebsites.pptx Sites Mentioned in This Presentation
The BUBL - http://bubl.ac.uk/ ipl2: Information You Can Trust - http://www.ipl.org/ Voice of the Shuttle - http://vos.ucsb.edu/ Infomine - http://infomine.ucr.edu/ Directory of Open Access Journals - http://www.doaj.org/ Open J-Gate - http://www.openj-gate.com
My Contact http://www.ulm.edu/~lowe [email protected]
If the reference librarians can help you in any way, please don’t
hesitate to call on us!
Thanks for Attending!
