How do we evaluate what we find on the Internet?
Researched
and adapted by Ana Cristina Camargo
Translated by Cristiana Assumpção
Based on the site: http://thorplus.lib.purdue.edu/~techman/eval.html
Site for further research on this topic: http://www.tiac.net/users/hope/findqual.html
Any person who has researched topics on the Internet most certainly has felt how difficult, and many times, unproductive, the research is when there is just too much information available to us.
Worst than finding the information is separating those that are reliable and high quality, that are really helping our work. In the Internet, anyone can publish anything they like, without having to go through significant and official revisions or editing. It's also important to remember the volatile characteristic of the Internet sites. At any moment an information can be substituted, altered, or even taken out. That is why it is very important for you to take note of the date as well as the address consulted, for your increased safety.
The Internet is a powerful medium where you can obtain information about almost anything you can imagine, but it is necessary to take some precautions to select in a better way sites that are really relevant.
Below you will find some interesting tips that can help you with your research.
How to select credible sites?
1. You need to know if they are:
- reliable, accurate, truthful
- significant, expressive, solicitous, researched
- really important for your research
Without having the previous theoretical basis about the topic being researched, it's hard to know all this in the first hand... Before going to the Internet, it would be interesting to read basic bibliography about the topic being researched.
2. It's necessary to take notice while navigating through the site:
- origin (country, institution, research group...)
- who is the author or responsible for the site: background, qualifications, experience in the research area (would his/her personal background / qualification allow a correct perspective of the topic?)
- if the main topic of the site is well presented, consistent, and with argumentation based on data and relevant information
3. Care with plagiarism and alterations
- Is the site revised and frequently updated? (always verify the date of the last alteration, when available)
- Does the site present well written texts and a logical sequence of information? If not, it may be that it is simply made of copies of several research resources, without the care of reflection and understanding by the author. The information looks like a quilt, and may not really help in your research.
- Observe if the site has references to researched sources. This information is very important in case you need to deepen your research or check the topic.
- Has the content of the site been published (scientific journals, conferences, symposiums...)?
- When was the content of the site written (date)?
- Is there any indication of target audience in the site to be evaluated? For example, there are sites that specify "This topic is targeted to teachers of the Intermediate Level,...". This information is important because depending on the audience it was made for, the site may contain specific vocabulary, that may make it more difficult for you to understand.
4. Be careful with biased information...
- Observe if the author states his/her point of view, if he seems biased (verify if the author belongs to any association, institution or organization).
- It's important that your research not be restrained to one site only, so that you may have several perspectives and points of view, as well as different reflections on the topic. This will help you become better at evaluating research sources, besides giving you a more theoretical basis for future decisions.
5. About the conclusions
- does the site present the author's conclusions?
- Does the material in the site allow you to reach these conclusions in a logical and coherent manner?
Observe that the same tips and observations can and should be used when consulting books, papers, articles in magazines and newspapers. Just because something is published doesn't necessarily mean it has to be reliable.
Special invitation: In case you are an experienced "surfer", help us improve this text with more valuable tips! Send an email to ppioneer@listbot.com.