Transcript Knowledge and Credibility

Authority and Credibility
The Information Explosion & The Growth of knowledge
With exponential increases in the size of the literature
we can read only a constantly diminishing % of the
output.
10% of the journals meet 80% of the demand.
(Price 1965)
The Information Explosion & The Growth of knowledge
How Much Information 2000?
How Much Information 2003?
Research projects at the School of Information Management
(SIMS), University of California at Berkeley.
http://www2.sims.berkeley.edu/research/projects/how-much-info2003/execsum.htm
The Information Explosion & The Growth of knowledge
“This study is an attempt to estimate how much new information
is
created each year. Newly created information is distributed in
four
storage media - print, film, magnetic, and optical - and seen or
heard in four information flows - telephone, radio and TV, and
the
Internet. This study of information storage and flows analyzes
the
year 2002 in order to estimate the annual size of the stock of
new
information contained in storage media, and heard or seen each
year in information flows.”
The Information Explosion & The Growth of knowledge
How Much Information 2003?
•Approx 5 exabytes of new information in 2002
•Most new information (92%) stored on magnetic media (mainly
hard disks)
•US produces about 40% of the world’s new stored information
(print, film, optical and magnetic media)
•The amount of new stored information doubled between 1999
and 2002.
•Information flows through electronic channels (telephone,
radio, TV, internet) contained almost 18 exabytes of new
information in 2002 (mostly through telephone calls – 98%)
http://www2.sims.berkeley.edu/research/projects/how-much-info-
The Information Explosion & The Growth of knowledge
Table 1.1: How Big is an Exabyte?
(http://www2.sims.berkeley.edu/research/projects/how-much-info2003/execsum.htm)
Kilobyte (KB) 1,000 bytes OR 103bytes
2 Kilobytes: A Typewritten page.
100 Kilobytes: A low-resolution photograph.
Megabyte (MB) 1,000,000 bytes OR 106 bytes
1 Megabyte: A small novel OR a 3.5 inch floppy disk.
2 Megabytes: A high-resolution photograph.
5 Megabytes: The complete works of Shakespeare.
10 Megabytes: A minute of high-fidelity sound.
100 Megabytes: 1 meter of shelved books.
500 Megabytes: A CD-ROM.
Gigabyte (GB) 1,000,000,000 bytes OR 109 bytes
1 Gigabyte: a pickup truck filled with books.
20 Gigabytes: A good collection of the works of Beethoven.
100 Gigabytes: A library floor of academic journals.
The Information Explosion & The Growth of knowledge
Table 1.1: How Big is an Exabyte?
(http://www2.sims.berkeley.edu/research/projects/how-much-info2003/execsum.htm)
Terabyte (TB) 1,000,000,000,000 bytes OR 1012 bytes
1 Terabyte: 50000 trees made into paper and printed.
2 Terabytes: An academic research library.
10 Terabytes: The print collections of the U.S. Library of Congress.
400 Terabytes: National Climactic Data Center (NOAA) database.
Petabyte (PB) 1,000,000,000,000,000 bytes OR 1015 bytes
1 Petabyte: 3 years of EOS data (2001).
2 Petabytes: All U.S. academic research libraries.
20 Petabytes: Production of hard-disk drives in 1995.
200 Petabytes: All printed material.
Exabyte (EB) 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes OR 1018 bytes
2 Exabytes: Total volume of information generated in 1999.
The Information Explosion & The Growth of knowledge
Patrick Wilson (1983)
‘expertise & authority
Cognitive authority is the term he uses to describe the relation
between a person and those others from whom he or she
thinks they can learn.’
The Information Explosion & The Growth of knowledge
“While offering the promise of the democratization
of expertise – making information widely available
and often at a significantly lower cost – the Internet
is also driving a re-examination of the concept of
professional identity and related claims of
expertise and standards of integrity.”
(Harshman et al, 2005)
Harshman et al (2005) ‘Professional ethics in a virtual world: The
impact of the Internet on traditional notions of professionalism’, Journal
of Business Ethics, 58: 227-236.
The Information Explosion & The Growth of knowledge
“The equity of presentation offered by the Internet dissolves the
boundaries around areas of expertise upon which the
professions derived much of their power.”
(Hardey, 1999)
“the Web 2.0 revolution is decimating the ranks of our
cultural gatekeepers, as professional critics, journalists,
editors, musicians, moviemakers, and other purveyors of
expert information are being replaced. ... For the real
consequence of the Web 2.0 revolution is less culture, less
reliable news, and a chaos of useless information.”
(Keen, 2007: 16)
http://www.quackwatch.com/
Stanford Web Credibility Project
http://credibility.stanford.edu/
Suggested Creditability Guidelines for Makers:
1. Make it easy to verify the accuracy of the information on
your site.
2. Show that there's a real organization behind your site.
3. Highlight the expertise in your organization and in the
content and services you provide.
4. Show that honest and trustworthy people stand behind your
site.
5. Make it easy to contact you.
6. Design your site so it looks professional (or is appropriate
for your purpose).
7. Make your site easy to use -- and useful.
8. Update your site's content often (at least show it's been
reviewed recently).
9. Use restraint with any promotional content (e.g., ads,
Stanford Web Credibility Project
http://credibility.stanford.edu/
•What causes people to believe (or not believe) what they find
on the Web?
•What strategies do users employ in evaluating the credibility of
online sources?
•What contextual and design factors influence these
assessments and strategies?
•How and why are credibility evaluation processes on the Web
different from those made in face-to-face human interaction, or
in other offline contexts?
Evaluating Web sites for reliability of information
When researching online you need to evaluate the site
Evaluation ensures that you can use the information you find!
It also ensures that:
•You can back up your conclusions in projects and exams
•The source is fit for purpose
•The information is reliable
Evaluating Web sites for reliability of information
Authority - is it clear to you at a glance ….
•Who wrote the page i.e. where is the information coming from?
•The affiliation of the authors to an organisation, company or
educational institution?
•If sponsorship is clearly evident on the page?
Look for an “about” or “who we are” button to find out more
about the authors
Evaluating Web sites for reliability of information
Accuracy and Reliability – is it clear to you at a glance…
•That the information is correct
•That you can easily verify the information on the website using
another source
•That the author is qualified to be writing about this topic
•That references to other sources backing up the author’s
claims are clearly given
Evaluating Web sites for reliability of information
Objectivity – is it clear to you at a glance...
What is the purpose of the website – is it trying to
•Inform you
•Advocate a particular argument in favour of an issue
•Sell or promote something
•Provide you with news
Or is just someone’s personal website?
Evaluating Web sites for reliability of information
Content and coverage - is it clear to you at a glance..
•That the level of detail in the information is suitable for your
purpose?
•That the information on the site is well presented
•That the information on the site increases your understanding
and is not just a list of links!
Evaluating Web sites for reliability of information
Currency- is it clear to you at a glance…
•When the site was last updated – is there a “last created” or
“last updated” date clearly visible?
•That the links provided by the author are live?
•That there are no dead links on the page, a sign that the site is
not checked regularly?
Databases:
http://www.library.dcu.ie/Eresources/databases-az.htm
Useful databases
ACM Digital Library: http://portal.acm.org/dl.cfm
BlackWell Synergy: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/
LexisNexis: (Fulltext newspapers, legal and business database
)
http://web.lexis-nexis.com/professional/
Sage Publications: http://online.sagepub.com/
(try: online anonymity)
Finally remember the Student Handbook for reference on essay
writing and how to site using the Harvard system properly.
Stanford Web Credibility Project
http://credibility.stanford.edu/
Suggested Creditability Guidelines for Makers:
1. Make it easy to verify the accuracy of the information on
your site.
2. Show that there's a real organization behind your site.
3. Highlight the expertise in your organization and in the
content and services you provide.
4. Show that honest and trustworthy people stand behind your
site.
5. Make it easy to contact you.
6. Design your site so it looks professional (or is appropriate
for your purpose).
7. Make your site easy to use -- and useful.
8. Update your site's content often (at least show it's been
reviewed recently).
9. Use restraint with any promotional content (e.g., ads,