Hello people!!!
Well, after seven “e-tivities” in which we were supposed to take a trip through the big world of technology and explore new tools, here comes a reflective post…I must say I am quite happy, I really needed a break from registering and subscribing to different websites and blogs ;-)
There is no doubt that the Internet has become an important part of my life in these last years; it enables me not only to communicate with my friends who live far from me, but also to find a lot of information about anything just by sitting in my room. Of course I am talking about my academic life as well; when I wrote my “bachelor” thesis the Web played a fundamental role in my research (and I am sure this was your case, too). So I am quite used to judge the sources of the material I come across, but actually I have always done it unconsciously without thinking much about the specific criteria I use. Nevertheless, this is far from being just a trivial issue since (as we realized in these two months) you basically find ANY kind of stuff online, no matter if good or bad. For example, I got to know that some professors do not even want us to use the Net as a source of material for our final dissertation. Is that because they are skeptical about the information we find online? Or are they just traditionalist and still prefer the good old books? Well, maybe they fear we copy and paste everything from the websites instead of producing an original piece of work… :-D
Anyway, if I had to list the most important criteria I follow when I do a research online, this would be my idea:
Who is the page written by? Who is/are the author/the authors of the essay/article I am reading?
How is the page written? Are there any grammar or spelling mistakes? Is the author a native speaker of the language the page is written in?
How many people have visited the page so far? (If it possible to see it) When there is the chance for visitors to leave comments (like for example a forum), what are their impressions about the website?
How long ago was the page written? Is it regularly updated?
When I clicked on the links Sarah suggested to us, I noticed that apart from the third point (the one about the visitors’ opinion) all my clues have been mentioned on the three websites. Other useful things to keep in mind are looking at the first part of the URL (most of the times it tells you where the info comes from) and considering the author’s point of view. I had not thought about this, but it is true that sometimes his/her ideas and biases can influence the content quite strongly.
So I would add these two things to the list I made before; and of course these criteria should be followed not only when searching for material online, but also when consulting any other kind of source.
I hope I gave you some interesting cues for discussion, I am looking forward to reading your posts.
See you on Monday!
6 commenti:
Hi Eleonora!
First of all, I have to say I really liked your post: it was very-well written and clear. You managed to describe your attitudes towards the Web and say everything that was necessary in a very effective and concise way.
I liked your comment about the scepticism of some professors and I’ve heard about that before. Maybe you’re right: they are afraid of a “copy and paste strategy “ or maybe they just think that online material is generally less reliable than information put on a piece of paper. Of course, this is wrong but their concern can be easy to understand. Anyway, one possible strategy could be to teach students to click on “advanced research “ in their search engines and to search for pdf files, which have been previously revised for publication. This can be a good start.
As for your criteria, I didn’t consider n. 2 and 3 in my post. I mean, maybe I’ve always followed them in an unconscious way, and I forgot to include them in my own list.
That’s all for the moment
See u
Alessia
Hi Eleonora!
More or less we use the same criteria to decide what Websites are good,considering who the author is,when was the page last updated etc..
As you wrote in your post I think that teachers are "against" the Net because they can't control them and maybe think that we just opy and paste.
I think that internet is a great "place" where you can find any sort of materials and you can also keep in touch with your friends through msn,Facebook etc.and everyone should become confident with it!
Hi Eleonora,
As far as your criteria are concerned, I pretty much agree: they are quite similar to mine.
I'm quite surprised to read that for your bachelor thesis you use a lot of internet. I did the exact opposite! I think I cited a couple of websites in my bibliography, and I really used only one of them actually. I guess it was the same feeling for you when you read that I'm still quite confident that the 'traditional' source are good enough.
I guess the point is more about WHAT we're looking for: for a general search, i.e. for personal interest, the net may be enough generally. When it comes to academic matters, well, let's just say that going to the library feels more on the safe side to me...
See you in class
Hi Eleonora!
Compliments for your post! As Alessia noticed it is well written and gives a detailed idea of your attitude when considering your online behaviors.
I think that generally the criteria we use to judge an online source are pretty much the same. From the sites that Sarah gave us to look at, someone can find out something he haven't thought ab out before. This is exactly what happened to you! But basically we all have an idea (maybe blur) of the criteria to use to consider a website.
I personally find very useful the system of the five WH, that the 'San Diego State University' site suggests. Simply because it helps you to keep them in mind in a clear way.
See u.
Anna
Hi Eleonora!
I feel the same as you. I needed a break from subscribing and exploring, too. I just wrote to Enrico that I almost prefer books to the Internet. Maybe that was a bit exaggerated and I'm simply just a little tired.
I used the Internet a lot for my bachelor thesis, too. I think more than the half of all the information I found came from the Internet.
I never thought of your criteria regarding user's opinions. If I think about it I like this point. It doesn't necessarily mean that you can find out whether a website is reliable or not (because maybe they have a different purpose or just a different point of view)but it surely can help you to filter a part of the huge amount of information you get.
I don't understand professors who are against the net. It's just sad. I mean, we are language students and everyone of us made more than one examination in literature. I think we are aware of the importance of books and the beautiful feeling to have an old book in ones hands. But we are also able to seperate advantages and disadvantages of educational tools, don't you think!?
In my opinion, the Internet can help you a lot with thesis-writing and stuff like that.
You just have to be selective and critical in the way you pointed out in your post.
See you soon.
hey Eleonora!
as you wrote on my blog, we do follow pretty much the same criteria as the rest of our group, and probably the rest of class as well...especially after discussing it in class yesterday even more.
As the others said I liked your post, it was easy to read but with a sense and idea behind it!
What you wrote about the teachers not wanting people to use internet as a source to their work, is very strange, I found. Most of the universities now use a control system so when you actually do copy something, there is no way of getting through without being kicked out of school or having to deal with some serious problems. I guess it is the old skeptisism of internet as we talked about it in class...there is no doubt that you can find very valuable sources online, we just have to be more careful then in an academic library...
ok..see you in class tomorrow!
nina
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