Week 9

INFORMATION ANALYSIS

Evaluation of Internet Sources

 

Introduction

Why Evaluate?

Criteria for evaluating Internet Sources

Purpose

Scope/Coverage/Comprehensiveness

Authority

Audience

Information content

Design and layout

Acces/Workabilitys

 

Introduction

 

The availability and growth of the Internet offers all of us, the opportunity to find information and data from all over the world.

 

Internet resources, in particular World Wide Web resources, continue to proliferate at an astonishing rate.

 

Some experts say that a new site is placed online every 3 seconds!.

 

It is possible for almost anyone to place anything on the Internet.

 

Companies, organizations, educational institutions, communities and individual people all serve as information providers for the electronic Internet community

 

This sharing of resources and information is an example of societal cooperation on a grand scale and has fostered professional and personal communications throughout the world.   

Why Evaluate ?

 

When we use a research or academic library, the books, journals and other resources have already been evaluated by a librarian or by a mechanism set up by a librarian.When we use an index or a database to find information on any given topic, the index or database is often produced by a professional or scholarly organization that selects the journals to be indexed on the basis of their quality.Every resource we find has been evaluated in one way or another, before we ever see it. When we are using the World Wide Web, none of this applies.There are no filters in between us and the Internet.Now that anyone with access to a server and a passing knowledge of HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) can put information on the Internet, the problem has become one of sifting through a mass of advertising material and vanity publications in order to find information of high quality. Information can be spread over the Internet by anyone without regard to accuracy, validity, or bias.Due to its global structure, which encompasses a variety of legal systems and cultures, it is unlikely any one individual or nation will be able to significantly influence, regulate, or change the chaotic state of flux that characterizes the World Wide Web. So using and citing information found over the Web is a little like swimming on a beach without a lifeguard.Hence there is a need for librarians to evaluate Internet information sources in order to decide whether an Internet information source should be linked to a resource guide or library Web site. To judge the quality or appropriateness of information for a particular query or user.Many libraries now maintain Web sites that have lists of Internet information resources.The development of subject resource guides is seen as a logical role for librarians, extending to the online environment the traditional librarian's role of evaluating, selecting, and organizing published information.It is part of the job of many of us - librarians or information managers - to select what our users will find useful from this mass of information.

Criteria for evaluating Resources

Resources should be evaluated on the basis of the following broad levels of analysis

 

Purpose

 

What is the purpose of the resource?

 

# Resource should make their purpose obvious at first sight.

# Does the site promote a product?

# Does the resource fulfill the stated purpose?

# If a site provides its own mission statement, the user can verify whether the content matches this statement

# A good resource will not be ambiguous and will not deflect potential users, due to its poor communication of purpose.

 

    scope

       1.What subject is covered?
      2.Does the resource cover a subject adequately?
     3.Breadth: Are all aspects of the subject covered?
     4.Depth: To what level of detail in the subject does the resource go?
    5.Time: Is the information in the resource limited to certain time periods?
   6.Format: Are certain kinds of Internet resources (for example telnet, Gopher, FTP) excluded? 
 
Authority
 

No matter if it’s a web page, article or a book, you need to determine who is responsible for the information and how qualified that person or body is to write on the subject. Don’t accept words or opinions without knowing something about who wrote them.

 

• 1.What are the author’s credentials?
• 2.What is the author's education, experience and/or occupation?
• 3.Is he/she qualified to write on the topic?
• 4.What institution, organization or company is the author affiliated with?
• 5.What organization or body published the information? Is it authoritative?

Audience

For whom is the information being written? Scan the entire work. Check the title, the abstract, the table of contents, the site map, and/or the index for clues . Popular works are geared toward the general public. Scholarly and trade publications are written for people with specialized knowledge. If you encounter a lot of unfamiliar jargon you may want to use a less specialized source. Accuracy Consider whether the information from a source is presented as fact, opinion or propaganda? Reliable sources make use of factual information that is well-supported. Objectivity & Bias Objectivity means the information is presented impartially with an absence of bias. Sources are rarely 100% objective. An author may present their perspective, however, a forthright author will be honest about his/her bias. A reliable work will also be well-supported.   To get a sense of a journal's point of view or bias, look at the names of the authors contributing pieces along with their backgrounds. Check out the focus of several articles within a few issues

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week 8

CITATION & DOCUMENTING INFORMATION SOURCES

Why Source Integration?

— Quotations, paraphrases, and summaries

◦ provide support for claims or add credibility to your writing

◦ refer to work that leads up to the work you are now doing

◦ give examples of several points of view on a subject

◦ call attention to a position that you wish to agree or disagree with

◦ highlight a particularly striking phrase, sentence, or passage by quoting the original

◦ distance yourself from the original by quoting it in order to cue readers that the words are not your own

◦ expand the breadth or depth of your writing

Choosing Text to Integrate

1. Read the entire text, noting the key points and main ideas.
2. Summarize in your own words what the single main idea of the essay is.
3. Paraphrase important supporting points that come up in the essay.
4. Consider any words, phrases, or brief passages that you believe should be quoted directly.

Summarizing

— When you summarize, you put the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s).

◦ Summarized ideas must be attributed to the original source.

◦ Summaries are significantly shorter than the original.

◦ Summaries take a broad overview of source material.

◦ Instead of using many direct quotations in an essay, it is better to paraphrase and summarize your sources whenever possible.

◦ Use your own words.

◦ Do not use quotation marks.

◦ State only the most important idea or fact.

◦ Use as few words as possible

Paraphrasing

— Paraphrasing involves putting a passage from source material into your own words.

◦ Attribute paraphrases to their original sources.

◦ Paraphrases are usually shorter than, but may be the same length as the original passage.

◦ Paraphrases take a more focused segment of the source and condense it slightly.

◦ Use paraphrasing as an alternative to direct quotation. It can be used for short passages.

◦ Use your own words.

◦ Keep all the details of the original.

◦ Cite the source and the date.

◦ Do NOT use quotation marks

Example:

Ø Direct quotation:

Martin Stephen (1998) says that "a huge purpose built campus means that everyone is guaranteed accommodation in the first year."

Ø Paraphrase:

The specially built campus is very large so all first year students can live there (Stephen, 1998)

6 Steps to Effective Paraphrasing

1. Reread the original passage until you understand its full meaning.
2. Set the original aside, and write your paraphrase on a note card.
3. Jot down a few words below your paraphrase to remind you later how you envision using this material. At the top of the note card, write a key word or phrase to indicate the subject of your paraphrase.
4. Check your rendition with the original to make sure that your version accurately expresses all the essential information in a new form.
5. Use quotation marks to identify any unique term or phraseology you have borrowed exactly from the source.
6. Record the source (including the page) on your note card so that you can credit it easily if you decide to incorporate the material into your paper.

Quoting

— Use the author's words exactly.

— Use quotation marks only for short quotations.

— If your quotation has more than 40 words do not use quotation marks. Indent quotations of more than 40 words.

— Give the year of publication in parentheses after the writer’s name and the page number at the end of the quotation, OR the writer's name, year of publication, page number in parentheses at the end of the quotation. Don’t forget to put a period AFTER the parentheses not before.

— Quotations must be identical to the original.

— Quotations use a narrow segment of the source.

— They must match the source document word for word and must be attributed to the original author.

— Use quotes when the actual words are so integral to the discussion that they cannot be replaced.

— Use quotes when the author’s words are so precisely and accurately stated that they cannot be paraphrased.

Quotations from books.

Ø Example 1:

Olweus (1999) says that "Many studies have shown that both children and adults behave more aggressively after having observed someone else, a ‘model’ acting aggressively" (p. 43).

Ø Example 2:

"Many studies have shown that both children and adults behave more aggressively after having observed someone else, a ‘model’ acting aggressively" (Olweus, 1999, p. 43).

Signal Phrases and In-Text Citation

— Signal Phrases and In-Text CitationSignal phrases introduce someone else’s work – they signal that the words and ideas that are about to be offered belong to someone other than the author of the paper.

— In-text citations are the parenthetical pieces of information that appear usually at the end of a quote, paraphrase, or summary (though they sometimes appear before).

— A simple rule:

Author or Title, Year, and Page: what isn’t signaled up front must be cited at the end.

Signal Phrases and In-Text Citation (continued)

Ø Signal Phrases

. . . end of paraphrased sentence, in which you convey the author's ideas in your own words (Krepp, 1985, p. 103).

" . . . end of quoted sentence" (Krepp, 1985, p. 103).

Ø In-Text Citation

In 1985, Krepp reported that . . . (p. 103).

Krepp (1985) tells us that . . . (p. 103).

According to Krepp (1985), ". . ." (p. 103).

Ø Multiple Authors signaled (Alphabetical)

Studies (Jones, 1966; Krepp, 1985; Smith, 1973) have shown that . . .

Ø No Author

("Stocks Lose Again," 1991, p. B16).

According to the news article “Stocks Lose Again” (1991) … end paraphrase or “quote” (p. B16).

Ø No Page Number

Provide other information in signal phrase

Ø Internet newspaper/journal quotations.

Example 1:

"More flexibility in primary teaching may also see many great names and important events dropped from the National Curriculum" (Cassidy, 2000).

Example 2:

Cassidy (2000) says that "Historians fear the move will lower standards and stop the development of innovative courses".

Ø An article with no writer's name. (Write the first 2 words of the title)

Example:

"The country's top comprehensive with its 98% rating for top grade GCSEs is a rather unusual one" (Top of, 1998).

Ø An article by a government agency. (Write the first 2 words of the title. If there is no title, write the name of the agency. Example: (DirectGov, 2008))

Example:

Two thirds of all bullying is verbal, and increasingly this happens in un-moderated chat rooms or by instant messaging, or via text messages on mobile phones. Bullying can be subtle but most of the time, if your child is being bullied, they know who is doing it to them. (Dealing With, 2008)

Week 7

Introduction to Citation

Do You Know What is Bibliography?
 

Bibliography/reference is a list of books & other materials which have some relationship to each other.The material listed contains the following components:

*Author
*Title
*Place of Publication
*Publisher
*Year of publication

Plagiarism

• " Plagiarism "is using others’ idea and words without clearly acknowledging the source of the information.
• Words,ideas, images and sounds need to be documented and given credit if they are not your own.
• Failure to do so may lead to charges of plagiarism whether intentional or unintentional.
• Many schools have academic policies that point out the consequences of plagiarizing material.of plagiarizing material.

APA style

what isAPA style and why use it?

• American Psychological Association
• Style established in 1928 by Social Science professionals
• Style provides guidelines for publication in Social Science Journals (such as Psychology, Sociology, Education, and Nursing)
• Style lends consistency and makes texts more readable by those who assess or publish them

APA Style is used for :

* Term papers

* Research Reports

* Empirical Studies

* Literature Reviews

* Theoretical Articles

* Methodology

* Case Study

Documenting :

— Books with one author

Format:

Author. (Year). Title of Book. Place of Publication :Publisher.

— Books with two or three authors

Format:

List all the authors. Use ampersand (&) before the last author. (Year). Title of the book. Place of Publication : Publisher.

 

— Books with more than six authors

Format:

First author until sixth author, et al. (Year). Title. Place of publication : Publisher.

—             Corporate bodies as author

Format:

Corporate author. (Year). Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher.

If Government bodies, start with the country or the state

— Edited books

Format:

Editor. (Ed./Eds.). (Year). Title. Place of publication : Publisher

— Journal article

Format:

Writer of the article. (Year). Title of the article. Title of the Journal, Volume (issue/no.), page.

— Article through internet

Format:

Author. (Year). Title of the article. Retrieved month date, year from URL address.

— Chapter from books

Format:

Writer of the chapter. (Year). Title of the chapter. In Name of the editor. (Ed./Eds.), Title of the book. (pages of the chapter). Place of publication : Publisher.

 

Books with author and Editor

Format:

Author, A. (Year). Title of book (Editor name, Ed.). Place Publication: Publisher.

— Magazine article

Format:

Author, A. (Month Day, Year). Name of the Article. Name of Magazine, volume, page number(s).

— Dictionary

Editor. (Ed.). (Year). Name of Dictionary (Edition, Volumes). Place publication: Publisher.

— Blog

Eg. Zompist. (2009, September 30). Star wars: Hope not so new anymore

[Web blog message]. Retrieved from http://zompist.wordpress.com

— Thesis/Dissertation

Format:

Author. (Year). Title. Unpublished master’s thesis / doctoral dissertation, name of the university, place.

**Journal article using Database on CDROM

Format:

Author. (Year, Month). Title of article. Name of the Journal, Volume (issue/no), page. CDROM. Name of database. Disc No.

Week 6

Truncation and Wildcard

Truncation

* Truncation and wildcards broaden your search capabilities by allowing you to retrieve multiple spellings of a root word or word stem, such as singular and plural forms.

* Truncation is using a wildcard at the end of a root word to search multiple variations of that root word. Check a database's help section to identify what symbol is used for a wildcard.

* In this search example: protect* OR conserv* OR regulat* would retrieve multiple spellings of these synonyms.

* Some databases may allow you to use truncation at the beginning of words or within words (this is called internal truncation).

* Consult the help files in the database to determine the availability of this feature.

 

 

 

Example of Truncation

• Truncation expands the search to locate all words beginning with the same root.
• Example: teen* will return teen,teens,teenage,teenager,etc.

Phrase Searching

 

 

• Phrase searching is when you use a string of words (instead of a single word) to search with.
• By using phrase searching you will retrieve fewer results!
• You might be looking for information on information on information literacy.Each one of these words has a different meaning when standing alone and will retrieve many irrelevant documents,but when you put them together the meaning changes to the very precise concept of "information Literacy".
• For the database to understand your search,you should put your phrase between brackets ( ) or inverted commas " ".
• Type your search as follows:

"Information Literacy" or (information Literacy)

Thexample of phrase searchingis picture is one of the




Wildcard

* A wildcard is a special character, such as an asterisk (*),question mark (?),or pound sign (#), that replaces one or more letters in a word.

*A wildcard usually represents a single character.


*A wildcard is used in the middle of a word to match usually known variants of a term. Example:wom?n will return woman,women,and womyn