Transcript Researching the Holocaust - 13thannualeducatorsconference

Secondary Education:
Researching the Holocaust
Through iconn
Presented by
Nick Wharton
University of Hartford Libraries
Research:
How students get into trouble
and how they can avoid it
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Google
Wikipedia
Worldwide Web untrustworthy site
Worldwide Web trusted site
Searching for reliable information: e.g.
iconn.org
Google
• Google is a search tool that harnesses web information by
searching a complex algorithm to show you its “best”
returns for your particular search.
• Google offers quick access to unvetted information.
• Google is not smart enough to bring back the best
information only the most likely pages for the words
searched.
• Usually offers access to websites that may or may not be
helpful or useful.
• Useful articles are not normally returned by Google
searches.
Wikipedia
• Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia.
• Calls itself, the free Encyclopedia that anyone
can edit.
• Editorial irregularities exist due to the “free”
editing by anyone.
• Unreliable information, although sources for
each article may be useful for an overview or
quick information about a topic.
Worldwide Web Untrustworthy Site
Google search: Holocaust Hoax
Top result:
• Is the Holocaust a Hoax?
www.biblebelievers.org.au/holohoax.htm
Who is the author? None named
Who is the sponsor? Biblebelivers.org
What is the focus of their website? Faith in
Jesus Christ as our savior
Problems with site
• No known author, actually, no author, although
other author’s works are represented looking like
scholarship.
• Presentation of scholarship based on hearsay and
unsubstantiated facts.
• To get the real substantiated answers, one must
send a letter to INSTITUTE FOR HISTORICAL
REVIEW, 1822 1/2 Newport Blvd., Suite 191,
Costa Mesa CA 92627.
• No link to information about the owner of the
website.
Unreliable website
www.biblebelievers.org.au
• Site has no author control.
• The ownership of the site is difficult to locate,
if not impossible.
• The site offers no “About” page or any
information about the organization that hosts
the website.
• This is an unreliable sponsoring website, and
makes the information from the hosted site
suspicious.
Worldwide Web Trustworthy Site
Reliable Website Example
Holocaust
• Holocaust History & Facts | USHMM.org
– Who is the governing organization?
• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
– Is there a link to information about the website
sponsor of the information? Yes (see next slide)
– Is the organization reliable?
• In this case it is the website of a highly respected nonprofit museum.
• Information is from a published Encyclopedia about the
Holocaust.
Holocaust History & Facts |
USHMM.org
Searching for Reliable Information: e.g. iconn.org
iconn Searching
(i.e. more trusted searching)
• Freely available to all Connecticut Residents.
• Offers indexed information in article, chapter
or book format on your topic.
• Sources are generally more reliable than
random web searching.
• Easy to use: basic searching resembles that of
Google or other search engines.
Number of Results: kristallnacht
iconn search
Results by Resource: by Group
Combined Searching
Nursing & Psychology 0
Magazines and Journals
Academic OneFile 187
PowerSearch 137
Newspapers
Gale Newspaper Collection 690
Hartford Courant (ProQuest) 64
London Times (Gale) 0
Wall Street Journal (ProQuest) 0
Business and Law
ABI/Inform Global 374
Find Books, DVDs and More (reQuest)
Statewide Library Catalog (reQuest) 80
Results from basic iconn search
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Over 1,500 results were located.
Over 500 Academic articles located.
Over 700 Newspaper articles.
80 books, DVD’s or other materials
located.
• Some Full Text
iconn Article Record from Academic onefile
Choose Advanced Search Tab
• Add other words to your search.
• Add qualifiers:
– Limit by Year
– Limit by Material Type (e.g. books, maps, serials)
– Limit by Language
• Choose other Databases available from iconn.
– Try World History in Context
List of all databases available through iconn
with History and Biography checked.
Results from the History and Biography
Databses
• History and Biography
Hartford Courant - Historical 0
U.S. History in Context 21
World History in Context 17
Connecticut History Online 0
Biography In Context 15
Why use iconn as a research tool?
• Free to Connecticut Residents and all
Connecticut students
• Easy to search
• Reliable information from several resources
• Many articles Full Text
• Assists in curricular compliance as a reliable
discovery tool
• Myriad of indexes on many subjects
Conclusions
• Searching for information can be a difficult
task for today’s student
• Quick searches on the web result in
information overload or unreliable
information.
• A directed search through reliable sources,
such as iconn, offers reliable sources in various
formats that are teacher approved.
Resources
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Google - google.com
Wikipedia - wikipedia.org
iconn - iconn.org
The Connecticut Consortium for Holocaust and
Genocide Education
http://ctchged.wordpress.com/
• University of Hartford Research Guides:
Teaching about the Holocaust and Genocide
http://library.hartford.edu/guides/editor/editgui
de.asp?subject=Teaching%20about%20the%20Ho
locaust%20and%20Genocide