Transcript Information Literacy & The Internet

The Internet and Information
Literacy
How much do you know about
information literacy?
List 4 major search engines and a
major directory.
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Check www.searchenginewatch.com or Wikipedia’s
list of search engines.
Search tools to check out…
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NoodleTools - NoodleQuest Search Strategies Wizard:
http://www.noodletools.com/noodlequest
What is a blog?
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Blog is short for weblog – it is literally a log of
the Web.
Why might you use quotation marks
when conducting a search?
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Use “quotation marks” to ensure your keywords
appear in your search results in the order you have
specified.
For example, if you conduct a search for global
warming, a search WITHOUT quotation marks
would find sites that include the words “global” AND
“warming” – the words do not have to appear
together and you will get more hits than you
probably want.
URL is an acronym for…
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Uniform Resource Locator
How do you find the owner or
publisher of a Web site?
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Go to www.easywhois.com and enter the
URL of the site you would like to research.
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For example
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Martinlutherking.org
Site may appear legitimate but it is published by Storm
Front
Storm Front is a white supremacy group.
Identify these extensions and what
they represent:
.org – organization
.com – company
.sch – school (used outside
of US)
.k12 – most US school
sites
.edu – US higher ed
.gov – US government
(add country code for outside
US)
.ac – higher ed outside
of US usually used
with country code,
example, “.ac.uk”
.net – network
.mil – US military
.co – Company (if paired
with a country code, example
“.co.uk,” the country,
Columbia)
Extensions Cont.
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New extensions to look for are
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.biz, .name, .pro, .info.
All are used for commercial purposes.
Some extensions may provide more reliable
information than others, but there are no
guarantees.
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.edu, .gov, .k12. – may be more reliable
.com, .org, .net. – watch out for.
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These domains can be purchased by anybody.
Not to say that sites with these extensions can never be
trusted, but it is good to know whether you are on a
commercial or special interest-type site if you are trying to
access academic-type information.
How do you find out who is linked to
your school’s Web site?
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These are called External links.
Do a “link:” command search.
 In the search box type link:your school’s
address.
External Links
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External links are like digital threads that
come from other sites.
Any author can choose to link to a document.
External links are invisible.
Unlike forward links, which are controlled by
a web site author, anyone in the world can
create a link to a web site from an external
source.
There are no link police!
Examining external links is an important step in
validating Internet information.
In validating, ask three questions:
1. Who is linked to the web site? Look to see what other
groups or individuals have linked to the site. Are they
universities, schools or commercial sites? Read the
URLs and titles of external links carefully. Look to see
if there is a pattern in the types of sites linked.
2. What is the purpose of the link? Why have groups or
individuals chosen to link to this site? Web authors
choose to link to other sites for specific purposes.
Speculate on what those purposes might be.
3. What do other sites say about the information on the
site? Gain perspective about a web site by reading
what another site tells you about it. Cross-reference
information and look for hidden bias.
What clues in a Web address might indicate
you are on a personal Web site?
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Look for a tilde “~” or the “%” sign or a
personal name or the word “user” after the
domain name and the first forward slash “/“
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The following web site, previously available, and published
by a professor at Northwestern University:
http://pubweb.northwestern.edu/~abutz/di/intro.html
is a Holocaust Revisionist site that argues that the Holocaust
did not take place.
Although this site contains a domain name we should be
able to trust northwestern.edu, the tilde ~ followed by
someone's name, tells us that this is a personal posting and
not an official Northwestern page.
Take a look at the archived address of the original site:
http://web.archive.org/web/20041012180151/pubweb.northwe
stern.edu/~abutz/di/intro.html
How would you conduct a search for
the following: a list of Web sites of all
the academic institutions in South
Africa? (Hint: South Africa’s country
code is .za)
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Go to www.google.com
Type site:ac.za in the search box
How do you find the history of any
given Web site?
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Use the Wayback Machine. Go to
www.archive.org and type the URL of the
web site you would like to research into the
search box.
Allows you to browse through 30 billion web
pages archived from 1996 to a few months
ago.
How would you conduct a search for
the following: US higher education
Web sites that contain the word turtle.
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Type “site:edu + turtle” in the search box.
What part of the URL is the domain
name?
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The domain name is found after the http://
and www. to the first forward slash /.
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For example in the URL
www.novemberlearning.com
novemberlearning.com is the domain name.
A domain name can sometimes provide clues
about the quality of information of a site or tell
you what a site is about.
So how Savvy are you:
Somewhat Savvy (0-5 points)
Moderately Savvy (6-10 points)
Downright Nerdy (10+ points)
The “visible web” & “invisible web”
The web is like an iceberg…
with a small amount visible above the surface but a vast amount
invisible below the surface.
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The visible web is the easy to see, free stuff, above the
surface.
The invisible web is subscription based or password
protected.
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efficient and effective user of the Internet knows how to find the
“invisible web” too.
An example of the “invisible web” is InfOhio.
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This information has gone through a process of being checked and
edited so it is more reliable than the information on a regular website.
Wikipedia – what is it?
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An encyclopedia that is created using
“wiki”
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“Wiki” is software which means that almost anyone
can edit (change the information) in the articles.
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The idea is that everyone shares their knowledge and that will
make the articles better.
What often happens is that the information gets edited by
people who are not experts.
Because Wikipedia is not written by experts, you
should NEVER use it alone for formal research.
For fun, it is OK!
Plagiarism
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Can words and ideas really be stolen?
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Yes!
The expression of original ideas is considered intellectual property, and
is protected by copyright laws, just like original inventions.
Almost all forms of expression fall under copyright protection as long as
they are recorded in some way (such as a book or a computer file).
All of the following are considered plagiarism:
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turning in someone else's work as your own
copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit
failing to put a quotation in quotation marks
giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation
changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without
giving credit
copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the
majority of your work, whether you give credit or not (see our section on
"fair use" rules)
Types of Plagiarism
"The Ghost Writer"
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The writer turns in another's work, word-for-word, as his or her own.
"The Photocopy"
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The writer copies significant portions of text straight from a single source,
without alteration.
"The Potluck Paper"
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The writer tries to disguise plagiarism by copying from several different
sources.
"The Poor Disguise"
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Writer retains the essential content of the source, he or she has alters
the paper's appearance slightly by changing key words and phrases.
"The Labor of Laziness"
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The writer takes the time to paraphrase most of the paper from other
sources and make it all fit together, instead of spending the same effort
on original work.
"The Self-Stealer"
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The writer "borrows" generously from his or her previous work, violating
policies concerning the expectation of originality adopted by most
academic institutions.
Cite Your Sources
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Giving credit to the original author by citing
sources is the only way to use other people's
work without plagiarizing.
There are a number of other reasons to cite
sources:
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citations are extremely helpful to anyone who wants to find out
more about your ideas and where they came from.
not all sources are good or right. Proper citation will keep you
from taking the rap for someone else's bad ideas.
citing sources shows the amount of research you've done.
citing sources strengthens your work by lending outside support
to your ideas.
Passwords, Email, & Other
Documents
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Are password private or public?
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If you find someone else's password what should
you do?
If you sit down at a computer and see that
some else's email or work is open on the
screen what should you do?
What is Phishing?
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It is a scam where Internet fraudsters send
spam or pop-up messages to lure personal
and financial information from unsuspecting
victims.
How do you know if a site is secure?
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Normally, URLs (web page addresses) begin with
the letters "http". However, over a secure connection
the address displayed should begin with "https" note the "s" at the end.
There is a standard among web browsers to display
a "lock" icon somewhere in the window of the
browser (NOT in the web page display area!)
 For example, Microsoft Internet Explorer displays
the lock icon in the lower-right of the browser
window:
Cyberspace Bullying
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Bullying someone using the internet.
IT IS A CRIME!
References
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iParadigm.LLC, Plagiarism.org,
http://www.plagiarism.org/learning_center/what_is_p
lagiarism.html, August 2008.
OnGuardOnline, Phishing,
http://onguardonline.gov/phishing.html, August
2008.
SSL.com, FAQ: How can I tell if a web page is
secure?, http://info.ssl.com/article.aspx?id=10068,
August 2008.
All About Explorers: http://www.allaboutexplorers.com
If you teach anything about exploration, this site is a must. It’s smart, slick and cleverly
done, plus has a host of great activities.
California’s Velcro Crop Under Challenge:
http://home.inreach.com/kumbach/velcro.html
Did you know about the Velcro shortage in California? Use this fun site to help students
separate fact from fiction on the web.
Dihydrogen Monoxide: http://www.dhmo.org
Who knew water could be so hazardous. A good site to use with middle school students.
Have them click through the forward links on the site. Does the web site reference any
other authors?
Dog Island Free Forever: http://www.thedogisland.com
A puppy dog paradise. Great site for all ages.
Feline Reactions to Bearded Men:
http://improbable.com/airchives/classical/cat/cat.html
A fun site to use when teaching kids how to validate web resources. Science teachers take
note! This site pokes fun at the scientific method.
The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus: http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus.html
Does the Octopus really exist? A great site to use with all ages. Have students click
through the links and read web addresses carefully.
Victorian Robots: http://www.bigredhair.com/robots/index.html