How to evaluate web based Information Resources

M K Prasanna,Information Officer, Motorola

mkprasanna@yahoo.com

Academic Staff College, Osmania University, Hyderabad24 Sept 08

Objective & Agenda

Explore Web- based info. resources Understand importance of evaluating

WWW Info Resources Explore each criteria for evaluation YOU WILL TELL - ACTION PLAN

How you will use this knowledge How you can improve Information

Literacy

World Wide Web

The World Wide Web ("WWW" or simply the "Web") is a global information medium which users can read and write via computers connected to the Internet.

WWW resources are very popular. This is because of the visual, familiar and user-friendly access mechanism of the Web Browsers.

Variety of Web based resources

Some examples are:

ftp archive / database of genetic code of stem cells

digital library of UNICEF related documents,

e-journal of Macroeconomics, childrens’ e-workbook, BSNL telephone directory, Website of Turkish History, E-learning portal (Voice of America

Webcasts on learning English), online bookstore like, http://

worldebookfair.com/Technical_eBook_Colleciton.htm; ICICIdirect online trading portal;

virtual exhibitions -

http://www.hwtears.com/files/TrafficLight_poem.pdf

http://www.fatworld.org/

http://worldebookfair.com/Technical_eBook_Colleciton.htm

http://www.voanews.com/english/AmericanLife/2008-09-18-voa31.cfm

http://www.karnataka.bsnl.co.in/ktkdir/searchformmain.php

http://www.podcastalley.com/podcast_details.php?pod_id=52639

http://www.aeroseek.com/ search engine & Directory is meant for Aviation professionals and includes a classified section for Sale & lease of aircrafts and even a couple of Real-time Flight Trackers.

http://www.CasePlace.Org is an example of a complete library in a niche area of business education materials. It is useful for teachers, students, practicing managers and also includes a forum for discussion on cases and pedagogy of case study.

Dubaiezguide at http://202.138.124.28:8080/clients/dubaiezguide/help.htm has an interactive map of Dubai and “Quick Search & Locate” facility on top of the map allows the user to search for places of interest, restaurants, communities, street names and reuse the same map for the next search by ‘Clear’ing it. Similarly, http://maps.vrway.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/VRWay.woa/wa/country?name=geneva shows panoramic view of various cities and streets within them.

Some more… Wikipedia Directory of journals:

PubList.com(http://publist.com/search.html)is

Teachertube VisibleBody Project Gutenburg DOAJ Census of India Live Homework Help

LIS PORTALS

Dissertations; OPACS

Dissertations search- citations free for last 2 yrs for academic users- http://wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations/gateway

Browse previews of dissertations from 1996 by institution- http://wwwlib.umi.com/cresearch/main

The Library of Congress catalog - http://catalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=First

Worlcat

WWW resources for communication Mailinglist / Listserv New Millennium Library & Information Science Professionals’ -

www.yahoogroups.com/list/nmlis

a group of professionals with similar interest can communicate with each other

to disseminate information about LIS events, issues; and have discussions with fellow-librarians in India and abroad

When a member sends the mail to group address, it is sent to all the members

email to nmlis-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

BLOGS TWITTER

LIBRARYTHING DELICIOUS

http://www.yahoogroups.com/messages/nmlis

Web based information resources 1. E-Journals- and their collections 2. E-Books- and their collections 3. Company/ Association Websites 4. News portals 5. Databases 6. E-learning/ online events/ web casts/ Pod casts 7. E-Groups/ mailing lists 8. Web logs 9. Search Engines 10. FAQs 11. Digital Library/Archives 13. Library Networks, including, Union catalogues 16. Virtual Help Desks/ Virtual Reference Desks

Please use every opportunity to discuss about the use of

Internet, possibilities, challenges & other issues.

We encourage each of you to contribute to Internet resources in the spirit of freedom of knowledge and sharing of resources.

Merits Users can use the same e-resources at the same

time at any place

E-resources can be easily copied, stored and disseminated. No longer face space constraints, geographical constraints and transfer constraints.

E-resources are easy to revise, update, manipulate and merge. Authors and publishers can maintain the resource in the most up to date form easily

Speedy delivery. Logistics for transferring e-resources is minimal.

Add value to services. Libraries can easily consolidate, rearrange and add value to develop new information products according to user needs.

E-collections save user’s time in access and reuse of information.

Merits Global reach –created in one part of the world

is easily accessible in other parts . Generate satisfaction among users

Buying and selling of e-collections is available on WWW has resulted in reduction in time taken to obtain access.

Promote Interaction with remote users. Most resources contain mechanisms for users to send feedback , comments, additional information, and so on. This has empowered users. Web2.0 is transforming such interaction mechanisms, each day.

On-line users tracking helps authors and publishers get valuable feedback on content, presentation, suggestions, updations to enhance their products.

Demerits Having access to computers & Internet Computer & Internet Literacy- Being able to use

computers and the Internet and other tools effectively needs training. Even heavy users of these resources may not be aware of the gaps in their information literacy.

Often limited to materials from a single content provider. Users have to use multiple resources; with multiple interfaces, from multiple publishers to get all the information required by them. This is not helpful.

Information overload Varied information quality- there is a lot of vanity

publishing, promotional information, inaccurate information, poor presentation. Producers do not use principles of information design, e-resource design, user interface design. This affects the usability of e-resources from the users point of view.

Ebooks Although users were enthusiastic about Ebooks,

Librarians had several concerns with e-book publishing.

Current ebook readers have not yet matured, and any device that users purchase must be capable of accessing content from many publishers and in many formats.

Simply repurposing existing printed books as e-books; the need to add value to the reading experience and how books could be redesigned to do so, and rights management and control issues.

“If searchability, linking, and currency are highly important and text is in short, discrete segments, e-books may be a useful solution. Such categories of books include: indexes, encyclopedias, almanacs, gazetteers, technical manuals, handbooks (e.g., PDR, Merck Index, CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics).

Why evaluate

Electronic resources require even more close evaluation of quality than print resources. As library professionals, it is our job to help our users find information written by experts and eliminate information posted by non-experts.

LIS professionals can provide reliable, professional assistance in evaluating the quality of information.

Uses of Evaluation

Bibliographic control Selection for localized collections Subject repositories Quality conciousness for users Quality conciousness for publishers

Librarian can play a role

Each individual user spends a lot of time exploring web-based information resources.

It is appropriate that the Librarian evaluate these resources and present the evaluated resources to the users either in the form of “Useful Links” or Elibraries of downloaded information.

Some preliminary screening

Purpose

Type of resource

Criteria CREDIBILTY USER INTERFACE, CONTENT REFERENCE LINKING MULTIMEDIA CONTENT SEARCH, BROWSE & OUTPUT FEATURES FULLTEXT FORMATS ACCESS SPECIAL FEATURES

CREDIBILTY

AuthorPublisher Authors' credentials Publishers' credentials/ peer reviewed Frequency of updation Yrs covered Last Updated Alternate formats

Owner details Owner contactable Copyright statement

User Interface

Info organization  Consistency  Clarity  Layout Font & Color AbbeviationsIcons & Symbols Screen window Scrolling

USER INTERFACE Graphics-Text balance  Highlighting  Query capability  Other inputs/ feedback  Online help  Context sensitive help  System messaging  Tutorial Demo Glossary  Offline help  Intuitive/ Following standard schema/ norms Selfexplanatory  Special hardware  Special software 

CONTENT

Scope Target Audience Non English languages Readability Completeness Comprehensibility Data

REFERENCE LINKING

Appropriate Hyperlinks Deadlinks Number of HL  Number of Inward HL  Non WWW references  Outward Links Clear 

MULTIMEDIA CONTENT usability, quantity, Quality, Formats, controls

Functional/ aesthetic Cosmetic Still Photos Maps Drawings 3D/ digital video Animations Video Sound Downloadable Special hardware Special free software Special priced software

SEARCH, BROWSE & OUTPUT FEATURES Search Facility  Advanced Search  Separate Search for documents  Word Search Vs Subject Search  Taxonomy  Contents page  Site map  Author Fieldsearch  Boolean Search Recall  Precision  Sortable 

SEARCH FEATURES Default operatorAND Search Proximity NOT Search other operators Truncation Search Help  Search Results By relevance  With summary  Specifying display  Error management  Save Search  Search History  Search Alert 

FULLTEXT FORMATS

Saving print format Mailing RSS/Podcast/ PDA/XML Downloadable Editable output By format By years

ACCESS

Abstract Free Fulltext Priced Fulltext Copyright managed

SPECIAL FEATURES In ACM Digital Library- Discussions, find similar

articles, email contents service, citation interlinking, peer to peer facility. Authoritative topic wise review literature. Virtual binder/ personal bibliography

Selective Register of IT events in e-journal In IP.com, a patents database- Intellectual

Property Discussion Forum; Prior Art Management Resource Center- a repository of articles and resources

In Micropatent, a patents database- sorting, reporting, reviewing, and graphing capabilities within a user’s personal workspace, called WorkSheets

Special Features

In NetLibrary.com- offline viewing of books; Audio books;text to speech accessibility

In EE Times, an e-journal - Newsletter for each subtopic, product and specifications databases

In Dr.Dobb’s Journal- source codes repository is much sought after. Netseminars- interactive discussions with industry experts.

Coming back to: Why evaluate

Electronic resources require even more close evaluation of quality than print resources. As library professionals, it is our job to help our users find information written by experts and eliminate information posted by non-experts.

LIS professionals can provide reliable, professional assistance in evaluating the quality of information.

An information literate person is one who:

recognizes that accurate and complete information is the basis for intelligent decision making

recognizes the need for information knows how to locate needed information formulates questions based on information needs identifies potential sources of information develops successful search strategies accesses sources of information including computer-based and

other technologies evaluates information no matter what the source organizes information for practical application integrates new information into an existing body of knowledge uses information in critical thinking and problem solving

(Doyle, 1992) uses information ethically and legally

Information Literacy can be improved by constantly collaborating with users to promote:

Location of required information: Librarian can assist by outlining the Research Process; search strategies; proactively identifying information needs; select sources of information; creating pathfinders and guides.

Evaluation of information: Librarian can create awareness about the value of each criteria of evaluation of e-resources such as:

Purpose and Target Audience of the e-resource; Credibility (based on author, publisher and uptodatedness); User Interface covering information organization; resource design and help mechanisms; Appropriateness of Content; Appropriateness and balance of Reference Links; Search Facilities; Output and Access Options.

Effective usage of information: Librarian can also help the user to understand the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information; e.g. Copyright.

Its YOUR turn!!!

ACTION PLAN

How will you use this knowledge?

How can you improve Information Literacy?