Quickly Finding Quality Information on the Web

A workshop on evaluating information sources, and becoming an efficient searcher of the web

 

Scenario #1 Practice Determining Reputation and Credibility of Web Sites

You have turned in a research paper to your professor but he returned it to you saying, "There's nothing but garbage on the internet, I want real sources. Revise it." Before you scrap all the sources on your bibliography, look at reach one closely. Which ones are really trustworthy? Why did you come to that decision? Now do some research on the authors/sponsoring organizations and determine if they are authorities in the field, and if they are appropriate resources for a college level research paper. How would you defend the web pages that you still want to use? Be ready to justify your use of a web page to your professor!

Bibliography # 1 *

Use of Psychoactive Medication During Pregnancy...

Pregnancy and Mental Illness

Parents with Mental Illness

Mental Health

Personal Accounts: Mental Illness, Motherhood, and Me

 

 

Bibliography #2 *

Breast Cancer Statistics

Breast Cancer

Everyday Health Breast Cancer Statistics

Cancer Control Planet

Facts and Statistics About Breast Cancer in the United States

 

 

Bibliography # 3 *

Clinton's Big Ditch

History of the Erie Canal

Erie Canal History

Erie Canal and DeWitt Clinton

An Excerpt from the Journal of Thomas S. Woodcock

Erie Canal Time Machine

Historic Waterways Adventure

Bibliography #4 *

Mary Magdalene

Magdalene.org

Mary Magdelene

Mary Magdalene: Saint or Sinner?

Mary Magdalene's Royal Lineage

 

 

 

Bibliography #5 *

Mystery and Miracle Plays in English Drama

Popular English Drama -- The Mystery Plays

Miracle Plays and Mysteries

Origins of English Drama: Festival Plays

English Pageant Wagon

 

Bibliography #6 *

Hitler's Christianity

Spartacus Educational--Holocaust

The Nizkor Project

Holocaust Survivors and Remembrance Project

USC Shoah Foundation Institute Testimonies

 



Bibliography #7 *

Maggie: a girl of the streets

English Views of Stephen Crane

Stephen Crane Criticism

Stephen Crane's Maggie

Perspectives in American Literature: Stephen Crane

 

 

 

Bibliography #8 *

Cold War Museum -- Stories

Cold War Studies

Cold War

Cold War Spy Testimony Revealed

Cold War Veterans Portal

Documents Relating to the Cold War



 

 

 

 

Scenario #2 Reading Google Results Screens

Look closely at the Google result screens given to you in class. See how many of the links you can eliminate just by noticing what the result screen shows you. Look for the URL for clues. Look to see if it is a .edu or .com or a .org site. Is it a Canadian or Australian site? Is it Wikipedia or another tool that may not be reputable? Is there a tilde(~) in the address? That means it is a personal web page, one that the organization sponsoring the site is not responsible for. Look at the excerpt. Do all your search words appear? Do they appear in the same sentence, or are they separated by ellipses (...)? Do you recognize any of the web sites? You can save time by paying close attention to these clues and only clicking on the most promising web sites.

 

 

 

 

 

Scenario #3 Now fast forward 5 years. Imagine you have to get information from the internet that you will use in your job or to help you make financial decisions or decisions about your family and their health. Use Google Advanced Search to find information on these topics. Remember to try to look for searchable databases.

 

1. You need to find a neurologist in Rochester who accepts Blue Choice, and is a recent graduate of medical school.

 

2. Your boss is traveling to Indonesia soon and wants to read some newspapers to prepare for his trip. Find him some Indonesian newspapers published in English.

 

3. You are a graduate student who has written a dissertation on ancient Mayan culture and language. You want to wow your advisors when you defend your dissertation by actually speaking the ancient Mayan language. Find a web site that helps you learn how to pronounce Mayan hieroglyphics.

 

4. You have inherited a box of baseball cards from a recently deceased relative. You suspect the Jackie Robinson card is worth a lot. Find a reputable web source that lists values of baseball cards.

 

5. It’s your big break! You are designing costumes for an off-Broadway play about baseball. What did the Mets uniforms look like (home and away) in the year 1984?

 

6. You find a bottle of wine in your recently deceased, very rich, uncle’s house. You need to find out the worth of the bottle of wine without someone trying to swindle you out of money. It is Domaine de la Romanee Conti, 1967. Find a reputable web site that will help you place a value on the bottle.

 

7. You have been offered two great jobs, one in Tallahassee Florida, and one in Providence Rhode Island. Find web sites that will help you decide which place is best to move your family, which includes 2 small children who will start school in the next few years?

 

8. Your father has just been diagnosed with Leukemia. You read about a new treatment, Autologous Stem Cell Transplant, but his doctor is reluctant to talk about it and you suspect it is because he doesn’t know too much about it. You decide to find a doctor who does the treatment so you can speak directly with a knowledgeable person. Find out if there is a doctor or hospital near your dad’s home in Albany, New York that does the treatment.

 

9. You are helping your boss write a speech. She needs to find anti-nuclear quotations from famous people. Find a source for such quotations, and be sure to choose a quotation that you can double-check online for accuracy.

 

10. Your pregnant sister needs your help. She has terrible seasonal allergies and her doctor says she cannot take anything prescription drug or over the counter drug to relieve her symptoms. Find a web source with reliable information about homeopathic remedies that are safe for pregnant women to take.