The Internet and Information Literacy

How much do you know about information literacy?

List 4 major search engines and a major directory. Check www.searchenginewatch.com or

Wikipedia’s list of search engines. Search tools to check out…

NoodleTools - NoodleQuest Search Strategies Wizard: http://www.noodletools.com/noodlequest

What is a blog?

Blog is short for weblog – it is literally a log of the Web.

Why might you use quotation marks when conducting a search? Use “quotation marks” to ensure your keywords

appear in your search results in the order you have specified.

For example, if you conduct a search for global warming, a search WITHOUT quotation marks would find sites that include the words “global” AND “warming” – the words do not have to appear together and you will get more hits than you probably want.

URL is an acronym for…

Uniform Resource Locator

How do you find the owner or publisher of a Web site? Go to www.easywhois.com and enter the

URL of the site you would like to research.

For example Martinlutherking.org Site may appear legitimate but it is published by Storm

Front Storm Front is a white supremacy group.

Identify these extensions and what they represent:.org – organization.com – company.sch – school (used outside of

US)

.k12 – most US school sites

.edu – US higher ed

.gov – US government (add country code for outside US)

.ac – higher ed outside of US usually used with country code, example, “.ac.uk”

.net – network

.mil – US military

.co – Company (if paired with a country code, example “.co.uk,” the country, Columbia)

Extensions Cont.

New extensions to look for are .biz, .name, .pro, .info. All are used for commercial purposes.

Some extensions may provide more reliable information than others, but there are no guarantees. .edu, .gov, .k12. – may be more reliable .com, .org, .net. – watch out for.

These domains can be purchased by anybody. Not to say that sites with these extensions can never be

trusted, but it is good to know whether you are on a commercial or special interest-type site if you are trying to access academic-type information.

How do you find out who is linked to your school’s Web site? These are called External links. Do a “link:” command search.

In the search box type link:your school’s address.

External Links

External links are like digital threads that come from other sites.

Any author can choose to link to a document. External links are invisible. Unlike forward links, which are controlled by

a web site author, anyone in the world can create a link to a web site from an external source.

There are no link police!

Examining external links is an important step in validating Internet information. In validating, ask three questions:1. Who is linked to the web site? Look to see what other

groups or individuals have linked to the site. Are they universities, schools or commercial sites? Read the URLs and titles of external links carefully. Look to see if there is a pattern in the types of sites linked.

2. What is the purpose of the link? Why have groups or individuals chosen to link to this site? Web authors choose to link to other sites for specific purposes. Speculate on what those purposes might be.

3. What do other sites say about the information on the site? Gain perspective about a web site by reading what another site tells you about it.  Cross-reference information and look for hidden bias.

What clues in a Web address might indicate you are on a personal Web site? Look for a tilde “~” or the “%” sign or a

personal name or the word “user” after the domain name and the first forward slash “/“

The following web site, previously available, and published by a professor at Northwestern University:

http://pubweb.northwestern.edu/~abutz/di/intro.html is a Holocaust Revisionist site that argues that the Holocaust did not take place.

Although this site contains a domain name we should be able to trust northwestern.edu, the tilde ~ followed by someone's name, tells us that this is a personal posting and not an official Northwestern page.

Take a look at the archived address of the original site:http://web.archive.org/web/20041012180151/pubweb.northwestern.edu/~abutz/di/intro.html

How would you conduct a search for the following: a list of Web sites of all the academic institutions in South Africa? (Hint: South Africa’s country code is .za) Go to www.google.com Type site:ac.za in the search box

How do you find the history of any given Web site? Use the Wayback Machine. Go to

www.archive.org and type the URL of the web site you would like to research into the search box.

Allows you to browse through 30 billion web pages archived from 1996 to a few months ago.

How would you conduct a search for the following: US higher education Web sites that contain the word turtle. Type “site:edu + turtle” in the search box.

What part of the URL is the domain name? The domain name is found after the http://

and www. to the first forward slash /. For example in the URL

www.novemberlearning.com novemberlearning.com is the domain name.

A domain name can sometimes provide clues about the quality of information of a site or tell you what a site is about.

So how Savvy are you:

Somewhat Savvy (0-5 points)

Moderately Savvy (6-10 points)

Downright Nerdy (10+ points)

The “visible web” & “invisible web”The web is like an iceberg…

with a small amount visible above the surface but a vast amount invisible below the surface.

The visible web is the easy to see, free stuff, above the surface.

The invisible web is subscription based or password protected. efficient and effective user of the Internet knows how to find the

“invisible web” too. An example of the “invisible web” is InfOhio.

This information has gone through a process of being checked and edited so it is more reliable than the information on a regular website.

Wikipedia – what is it?

An encyclopedia that is created using “wiki” “Wiki” is software which means that almost anyone

can edit (change the information) in the articles. The idea is that everyone shares their knowledge and that will

make the articles better. What often happens is that the information gets edited by

people who are not experts. Because Wikipedia is not written by experts, you

should NEVER use it alone for formal research. For fun, it is OK!

Plagiarism Can words and ideas really be stolen?

Yes! The expression of original ideas is considered intellectual property, and

is protected by copyright laws, just like original inventions. Almost all forms of expression fall under copyright protection as long as

they are recorded in some way (such as a book or a computer file). All of the following are considered plagiarism:

turning in someone else's work as your own copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit failing to put a quotation in quotation marks giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without

giving credit copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the

majority of your work, whether you give credit or not (see our section on "fair use" rules)

Types of Plagiarism "The Ghost Writer" The writer turns in another's work, word-for-word, as his or her own. "The Photocopy" The writer copies significant portions of text straight from a single source,

without alteration. "The Potluck Paper" The writer tries to disguise plagiarism by copying from several different

sources."The Poor Disguise" Writer retains the essential content of the source, he or she has alters

the paper's appearance slightly by changing key words and phrases. "The Labor of Laziness" The writer takes the time to paraphrase most of the paper from other

sources and make it all fit together, instead of spending the same effort on original work.

"The Self-Stealer" The writer "borrows" generously from his or her previous work, violating

policies concerning the expectation of originality adopted by most academic institutions.

Cite Your Sources Giving credit to the original author by citing

sources is the only way to use other people's work without plagiarizing.

There are a number of other reasons to cite sources: citations are extremely helpful to anyone who wants to find out

more about your ideas and where they came from. not all sources are good or right. Proper citation will keep you

from taking the rap for someone else's bad ideas. citing sources shows the amount of research you've done. citing sources strengthens your work by lending outside support

to your ideas.

Passwords, Email, & Other Documents Are password private or public?

If you find someone else's password what should you do?

If you sit down at a computer and see that some else's email or work is open on the screen what should you do?

What is Phishing?

It is a scam where Internet fraudsters send spam or pop-up messages to lure personal and financial information from unsuspecting victims.

How do you know if a site is secure? Normally, URLs (web page addresses) begin with

the letters "http". However, over a secure connection the address displayed should begin with "https" - note the "s" at the end.

There is a standard among web browsers to display a "lock" icon somewhere in the window of the browser (NOT in the web page display area!)  For example, Microsoft Internet Explorer displays

the lock icon in the lower-right of the browser window:

Cyberspace Bullying

Bullying someone using the internet.

IT IS A CRIME!

References

iParadigm.LLC, Plagiarism.org, http://www.plagiarism.org/learning_center/what_is_plagiarism.html, August 2008.

OnGuardOnline, Phishing, http://onguardonline.gov/phishing.html, August 2008.

SSL.com, FAQ: How can I tell if a web page is secure?, http://info.ssl.com/article.aspx?id=10068, August 2008.

All About Explorers: http://www.allaboutexplorers.comIf you teach anything about exploration, this site is a must. It’s smart, slick and cleverly done, plus has a host of great activities.California’s Velcro Crop Under Challenge: http://home.inreach.com/kumbach/velcro.htmlDid you know about the Velcro shortage in California? Use this fun site to help students separate fact from fiction on the web.Dihydrogen Monoxide: http://www.dhmo.orgWho knew water could be so hazardous. A good site to use with middle school students. Have them click through the forward links on the site. Does the web site reference any other authors?Dog Island Free Forever: http://www.thedogisland.comA puppy dog paradise. Great site for all ages.Feline Reactions to Bearded Men: http://improbable.com/airchives/classical/cat/cat.htmlA fun site to use when teaching kids how to validate web resources. Science teachers take note! This site pokes fun at the scientific method.The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus: http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus.htmlDoes the Octopus really exist? A great site to use with all ages. Have students click through the links and read web addresses carefully.Victorian Robots: http://www.bigredhair.com/robots/index.html