Unit: / Discovering the Internet / Duration: / Actor: / ** / Time:
Title: / Credibility / Contact: / Editor: / Rob Long / Final Edit Due: / **
Version: / 1.0 / Script due:
Glossary words: credibility
Video Direction/Screen Shots /Audio
/ Bullet Points / Tags/HTMLNortelLearniT intro. / NortelLearniT music. / Discovering the Internet
Credibility / Chapter 1
Introduction0.html
OUTLINE
HostCUT TO: screenshot of search being done
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CUT TO: host / The Internet is a virtual library containing an unlimited amount of information. Eventhough it contains a tremendous amount of information, credibility should be considered.
Since anyone can publish on the Internet at any time, there is no way of regulating content. The sites are not monitored, edited, regulated or approved; therefore, some thought should be given to the credibility of Internet information.
To assess the reliability of information 2 questions come to mind immediately. a) Why should you believe the source? and b) How does the source know the information?
So, let’s take a look at how you might evaluate content for credibility. Start with taking a look at an author’s educational background, publications, and responsibility she has for the information.
One also might ask if the author is well-known or been cited in other publications. You might also look to see what biographical information is available like name, address, institutional/organizational information, or position.
Lastly, review any data that may have been gathered through a critique.
Another confirmation of credibility can be qualified by links to and from more established and well-know sites. If a well-established website has a link to the information, this is a definite indicator that the content has value.
When there is an author but you are not familiar with the author, you might want to do an Internet search to see what you can find out about the author.
When there isn’t an author, attention still should be given to the publisher when reviewing content on a website. Some questions you might ask include: Can you contact the webmaster? And, is the organization credible as it relates to the information published? If it has a long URL, try to shorten it so that you can find out the name of the organization. After finding out the name of an organization, you can then do an Internet search to find out more information about the organization’s reliability.
Time is another factor that could be an issue when reviewing data on the Internet. Depending on the information being reviewed one might need to give some consideration to the date the information was published. Where information is time sensitive check to see if there is evidence of the frequency of updates.
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Look through results summary
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Accredited agencies,
Library of congress, etc.
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CUT TO: screenshots of this / Information usually has good credibility when it is published on websites that are a part of the military, education or the government. The URL for these sites will have the following endings:
.gov – government
.edu – education
.mil – military
One might use probability to help confirm the credibility of information. After finding a fact about a particular topic on one site, you might want to do an Internet search to see if you can get confirmation from other reputable websites.
While the Internet is an unlimited virtual library it can be quite difficult to find and trust information if you don’t apply some type of evaluation methods. Hopefully, the methods discussed in this segment will help you in finding the information you need.