The Internet

The Internet is more than the World Wide Web

The Internet is simply a network of computer networks. Of course it is much more than that - it is a portal to a vast amount of information. That's good news and bad news - there is so much information produced by so may entities for so many different purposes that finding just what you need (& being sure that it's quality information) can be a real trial. This week we'll look at how to use the Internet effectively.

WHAT IS THE INTERNET?

As mentioned above, the Internet is a network of computer networks. As such, computers from all over the world can share data (and information) with other computers. There are several protocols that various software applications use to "talk to" other computers. For instance, Post Office Protocol (POP) is used by many email programs and File Transfer Protocol (FTP) allows software to transfer files between computers.

The Internet is often (incorrectly) used interchangably with the World Wide Web which uses a separate protocol to share information. The Web is a collection of electronic documents that are linked together like a spider web across the globe. Web documents are written in Hypertext Markup Language (html) and use the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (http) to move the files from computer to computer across the Internet using Web browsing software such as Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. The Web allows us to communicate in a rich way, by displaying text, graphics, photos, sounds, and even video.

These electronic documents are stored on computers called servers located around the world.

The Web has evolved into a global electronic publishing medium and increasingly, a medium for conducting electronic commerce.
— From Learn the Net, http://www.learnthenet.com/

One common description of the Internet compares it to a library where all the books have been dumped on the floor and the lights turned out.

There is certainly a lot of good information on the Internet, but it can be difficult to find, and furthermore it is interspersed with a lot of information of very low quality.

A great strength of the Internet is that anyone can publish a web page for the rest of the world to see. This has led to a great explosion of information that might have been difficult or impossible to find before. However, this strength is also a weakness. Because anyone can publish, there is no guarantee the quality of information available. There is no editorial process.

Compare this with books: In order for a book to be published in a market economy, a publisher must first of all decide that the book will be economically viable – that enough people will want buy it to make the publisher a profit. This obviously prevents a great deal of information from being made available, information which might be of interest to only a small number of people. However, after a publisher does decide to publish a book, an editor employed by the publisher works closely with the author of the book. The editor does things like making sure the grammar and spelling in the book are correct, verifying questionable facts, and asking the author to explain unclear points a bit more thoroughly. For most documents on the web, this editorial process is entirely absent.

Compare this with scholarly journals: We learned that most scholarly journals are “peer-reviewed.” This means that before an article is accepted, it is sent to a number of experts in the field, who usually don’t know the identity of the author. These experts comment on the article, and often point out problems with the article’s methodology or conclusions. The author then has to correct these problems before the article is accepted for publication. This means that pretty much all the information in articles published in scholarly journals has been thoroughly checked by experts – that even if not most scholars do not always get the same experimental results or share the same opinions, the results and opinions that they present are well-reasoned and methodologically sound. No such process exists for information on the Web.

See also:
Ten Reasons Why the Internet is No Substitute for a Library
http://www.ala.org/alonline/news/10reasons.html
Matisse's Glossary of Internet Terms
http://www.matisse.net/files/glossary.html

A VERY BRIEF HISTORY OF THE INTERNET

WHAT KIND OF INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE THE INTERNET?

Many different types of organizations and individuals post information on the Internet.

Our first step in approaching information we find on the ‘Net should always be to try to ascertain who is posting it. We can often find clues in the URL (Uniform Resource Locator, i.e. web address) or in other information on the page.

Here are the major types of providers of information on the Web, with examples using the topic of “depression”:

Government agencies — .gov

Governmental agencies – federal, state, and local – are sources of some of the best information available on the Internet. The reason for this is that governmental agencies collect lots of statistics and other data in the course of making policy decisions, and the information they collect and produce “belongs” to the public already, in the sense that it was funded by tax dollars.

Many governmental agencies find that they can better serve their constituencies by making much of their information freely available. While most government information is assumed to be objective and free of any bias, the researcher must nonetheless always be aware of the possibility of bias in government information, as in all information.

National Institute of Mental Health
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/depression.cfm

 Educational institutions — .edu

As we know, a great deal of research and production of new knowledge takes place at universities. Educational Web sites often make some of that research available. Information on educational Web sites frequently serves a very specific purpose, like detailing the results of a study or project. Also found at university sites are administrative documents and students’ pages. When accessing Web pages on the servers of educational institutions, the researcher should be aware of who produced the document (e.g. a professor? a student? an administrative office?) and what their point of view might be.

Geriatric Depression Scale (Stanford Univ.)
http://www.stanford.edu/~yesavage/GDS.html

The PEARLS Project (Northwest Prevention Effectiveness Center at Univ. of Washington)
http://depts.washington.edu/nwpec/
pearls_depression.htm

Professional / trade / special-interest organizations — .org

For almost any topic imaginable, there exists a professional, trade, or special interest organization.

An example of a professional organization would be the American Medical Association, whose members consist of doctors. The AMA provides professional information and networking opportunities to its members, educates the public and policy-makers about health issues, and advocates for the interests of the “medical community.”

An example of a trade organization would be the National Restaurant Association. This group is made up of individual restaurant owners and restaurant chains. Their goal is to represent, educate, and promote the restaurant industry and to advocate for governmental policies favorable to the industry.

An example of a special-interest organization would be the Surfrider Foundation, which is a “non-profit organization dedicated to protecting our oceans, waves and beaches.” Other examples would be the National Organization for Women, the NAACP, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Greenpeace, or Save the Bay.

Professional, trade, and special interest organizations are usually excellent sources of information on topics related to their missions, and sometimes they are even the primary source of information on that topic. These organizations are increasingly making valuable information available on their Web sites, although the information they are willing to provide for free to non-members is often limited. It is also important to keep in mind that these organizations, by definition, have as an agenda to promote their profession, industry, or cause, and that the information they make available will likely be compatible with their mission.

American Psychological Association
http://www.apa.org/psychnet/depression.html

National Foundation for Depressive Illness
“A foundation that informs the public about depressive illness and its treatability  and promotes programs of research, education, and treatment.”
http://www.depression.org

National Mental Health Association
“The nation’s oldest organization dedicated to addressing all aspects of mental health and mental illness… NMHA works to promote mental health; prevent mental disorders; and improve treatment, services, and understanding for adults and children with mental and emotional disorders.”
http://www.depression-screening.org/

Corporations or other for-profit entities — .com

Commercial web sites used to be in the minority, but now it is safe to say that they make up the majority of Web sites on the Internet. Commercial sites are run by business enterprises whose purpose is usually to make money. If the site is not selling something directly, chances are they are after advertising revenue. A great deal of very valuable and high-quality information is available from commercial sites. Sometimes this information is proprietary and not freely available. Many commercial sites will require you to pay for the information they provide. Other sites offer you information for free in order to get to you to stay at their site and hopefully respond to other firms’ advertisements while you are there.

Finally, some sites provide you with some free information but require you to pay for additional information. When using commercial sites as information sources, you must be aware of what the site is trying to do – what is their purpose? why are they there? – so that you can critically assess the information they make available.

CopeWithLife.com: A depression resource
http://www.copewithlife.com/

The Merck Manual
http://www.merck.com/pubs/mmanual/
section15/chapter189/189b.htm

HealthAtoZ.com: Your family health site
http://www.healthatoz.com/atoz/
depression/depindex.asp

 Individuals — access usually provided through a .com ISP (Internet Service Provider)

A huge number of sites on the Internet are maintained by individuals. These sites can contain anything — family photos, resumes, tributes to celebrities, trivia about TV shows, sports scores, fads, recipes, opinions, etc. Because researchers have no knowledge of or way to verify the credentials of the individuals who post these sites, they should use a great deal of caution when relying on them as sources of information. Facts and figures found on these sites should be verified in at least two other reputable sources.

Mixed Nuts Depression Forum
http://mixednuts.net/

Andrew’s Depression Page
http://www.blarg.net/~charlatn/Depression.html

Depression
http://www.hometown.aol.com/amykozy/depression.html

SEARCHING THE INTERNET

Search Engines vs. Directories
How Search Engines Work
http://www.searchenginewatch.com/webmasters/work.html

Directories are hierarchically organized indexes created by people. All the sites listed in a directory are organized into rough categories similar to the way that business are listed in the yellow pages of the phone book. Directories allow you to browse through lists of Web sites by subject. They are selective in terms of what sites are included, in that every site included in a directory has been evaluated by a person. Directory databases tend to be smaller than those of search engines.

Often, there are fewer “hits” for your search, but, chances are, those hits will be more relevant because they were selected and categorized by people, not by a machine. Examples of directories are Yahoo!, LookSmart, Open Directory, and Ask Jeeves. Some search engines, such as Excite, Infoseek, and Lycos, also have directories.

Search engines are created by computers called “crawlers” or “spiders” that churn through the web to create a database of Web pages. When you search for a specific word or phrase, search engines will return a list of Web pages to you based on the words they have indexed. Your search results will differ depending on which search engine you use. Factors that influence results include the size of the search engine’s database (i.e. the number of sites it includes), the frequency that it is updated, the search capabilities and algorithms of the search engine, and what part of web pages the spiders indexed (for example title, title and first few paragraphs, meta tags, the whole document). Examples of search engines are Alta Vista, Google, Excite, Infoseek.

Directories tend to include fewer sites than search engines, but the sites are better organized. Directories tend to be most useful when searching for sites that you know exist and you want to find quickly, for example a company site like Ford Motor Company, or for searching for a broad subject area. Search engines are bigger than directories, but finding what you’re looking for with a search engine can sometimes be a challenge. If you are looking for any and all references to a search term, such as a product or a person’s name, or are searching for something very specific, you would be better off using one or more of the search engines.

How Search Engines Rank Web Pages
http://www.searchenginewatch.com/webmasters/rank.html

The Major Search Engines and Directories
http://searchenginewatch.internet.com/links/Major_Search_Engines/The_Major_Search_Engines/
index.html

Search Engine Sizes
http://www.searchenginewatch.com/reports/sizes.html

Note that no search engine indexes anywhere near all of the Web. In the July 8, 1999 issue of the journal Nature, a study was published which found that even the most comprehensive search engine today is aware of no more than 16% of publicly-accessible Web pages.

Fortunately, according to another study published in the journal Nature in September 1999, the average distance between any two randomly picked pages on the Web is just 19 clicks. So just as one can browse for books in the library by walking through the stacks, the Internet researcher can browse for additional sites of interest by following links from site to site.

Directory Sizes
http://www.searchenginewatch.com/reports/directories.html

Search Engine Math
http://www.searchenginewatch.com/facts/math.html

Power Searching
http://www.searchenginewatch.com/facts/powersearch.html

Search Engine Features for Searchers [chart]
http://www.searchenginewatch.com/facts/ataglance.html

Specialty Search Engines
http://www.searchenginewatch.com/links/Specialty_Search_Engines/

Multimedia Search Engines
http://www.searchenginewatch.com/links/Multimedia_Search_Engines/

Metacrawlers
http://www.searchenginewatch.com/links/Metacrawlers/

EXAMPLE SEARCHES

Directory

Yahoo! – http://www.yahoo.com/

Go to HELP to read about searching syntax and features.
Searching Yahoo!
How do I search Yahoo!?
Are there any general tips for better searching?

Note available Advanced Search features.

Drill down through directory:
Health > Mental Health > Diseases & Conditions > Mood Disorders > Depressive Disorders
 

Search Engine

Alta Vista – http://www.altavista.com/

Go to HELP to read about searching syntax and features.
Help
Advanced Search Help
Note available Advanced Search features.

Do a Power Search
depression and treatment

STRATEGIES FOR SEARCHING THE INTERNET

The most important search strategy takes place before your fingers ever touch the keyboard.

1. Who would know?

Before you begin your search, think about where the information you are looking for would most likely be found. Who would be an authoritative source on the topic you are researching, or who would know the fact you are looking up?

For example,

• What Web site might we go to for national election results?
• What Web site might we go to for the weather in Chicago?
• Who would know the bus schedule and bus fare between Providence and Boston?

If we had the questions above, we probably would not go to a search engine like Alta Vista and type in “election results” or “weather and Chicago” or “bus and Providence and Boston.” We would think right away to check sites like CNN.com or the Weather Channel, at Weather.com. For the bus schedule, we would need to think a minute, and maybe ask someone, to learn that Bonanza Bus Company runs busses between Providence and Boston. A search in a search engine for “Bonanza Bus” is likely to be far more successful than a search for “bus and Providence and Boston.”

Here are some more examples to think about:

• We want to know how many murders were committed in the United States last year.
• We want to know what the business climate in Albuquerque, New Mexico is.

These take a little more thought, and perhaps the advice of a librarian, but this information is likely to be gathered by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce. Again, if you know the organization you are searching for, you will have much better luck searching the Web than searching by the keywords of your topic.

Here’s another way of thinking about it: When you search a library catalog by subject, you search for keywords from the title and subject of books. You are searching for a record of the actual document. You have no idea who the author might be. This works just fine. When you search the Web, however, you will have better luck if you can try to figure out who the “author” is first, then you can search a Web search engine by this “author” to find the “author’s” site.

The extra time it takes to think through your search strategy will most likely pay off in the end.

2. Use your searching skills.

Take the time to identify the key concepts for the topic you are searching and come up with a list of possible synonyms.

For example, “Does the death penalty disproportionately affect people of color?”.

Key concepts:
death penalty people of color

Synonyms:
death penalty people of color
execution
capital punishment Blacks
Latinos
minorities
African-Americans
race/racial

Don’t forget to check your spelling and make sure you don’t make any typographical errors when you enter your search terms

3. Know your Web search tool.

We can compare Web search engines and directories to the Reference Database we have already looked at. Even though all the Reference Databases do basically the same thing — they help us identify periodical articles and other materials on our topic — we saw how each one was different from the others. Not only did they have a different scope (they covered different subject areas, types of materials, and years), they all had a slightly different way of entering the search into the database.

The same is true for Web search tools. As discussed previously, some of the differences between Web search tools are the following:

• Is the tool a directory, compiled by human beings, or is it a search engine compiled by a “spider” computer program?
• How big is the database of the search engine or directory? How many sites does it index?
• How frequently is the database updated? Are new sites being added on a regular basis? Is the information “fresh”?
• What does the search tool index? When you search, are you searching the full text of a web page, a description of a site, the title of the web page only, the title and first few paragraphs? Different search tools index different things.
• Become familiar with the search language and advanced features of the search tool. For example:
• Does the tool allow for Boolean searching with AND, OR, and NOT? Some do and some don’t. Some let you use + and – to indicate that a particular word must/must not appear in the search results.
• If you type in more than one word in a row, does the search tool automatically put and “AND” or an “OR” between the words? Another way of saying this is, does each site in your results list contain all of the words you typed in or either/any of the words? Does it allow phrase searching using quotes?
• Is truncation possible? Some search tools allow you to add a character (such as + or *) to the end of a word to retrieve all possible variations (e.g. teach*). Some do not. If truncation is supported, what is the truncation character?
• Does it matter whether you use upper or lower case letters (e.g. Italy or italy)? Some search tools expect you to capitalize proper nouns. Others don’t care.
• Can you limit your search? Some search tools allow you to limit your search to just the title of a Web page, to a particular web site or domain (e.g. “.org”), or even to the URL itself. It is also possible on certain sites to limit your results to specific media such as images or audio files.
• How do the results of your search appear? What order are they in? Are they ranked by relevance? By popularity? By whether or not the site has paid for prominent placement?

All of these factors will affect the outcome of your search. Understanding how to structure your search according to the characteristics of the search tool you are using will not only give you more control over your search and help you get better results, but will give you a better idea of what kind of information you are likely to find, as well as what information might be missed in your search.

It is a good idea experiment with different Web search tools and pick your favorite 2 or 3. Then really get to know your favorites by reading the help screens and FAQ’s (Frequently-Asked Questions), checking out the advanced search features, and reading more about the search engine or directory at http://www.searchenginewatch.com/.

Note that “metasearch” engines, or search engines that run your query against a number of search engines simultaneously, may save you time, but by using them you lose the ability to structure your search according to the rules of each particular search engine. This could result in fewer relevant hits. Nonetheless, searching for your topic in more than one search engine is a good idea. They are all different and will return different results.

4. Finally, remember what’s not available on the Internet.

The Internet contains a wealth of information, some of it high-quality, from reputable sources, and some of it low-quality, from questionable sources. The Internet is especially good for information in the public domain such as government statistics and publications, some information produced by researchers at universities, information provided by professional, trade, and special interest organizations, and information published by commercial enterprises that are willing to make it freely available in return for advertising revenue on their sites.

There is a great deal of information, however, that is not freely available on the Internet. Some of this is proprietary information – information that might be available, but for a fee. Example of this are the Library’s many Reference Databases, some of which cost thousands of dollars per year to subscribe to; or information on sites like Hoovers.com, which provide company profiles for a charge; or full text books on sites like netLibrary, which again require a subscription or a purchase. One rule of thumb is that, if it costs money in print format, it probably costs money on the Web. Other information is simply not available, especially older information and copyrighted information. The text of most periodicals, whether newspapers, magazines, or scholarly journals is generally not freely available (with a number of exceptions).

Furthermore, not all of the information that is available is easily accessible. No search engine indexes anywhere near all of the Web. In the July 8, 1999 issue of the journal Nature, a study was published which found that even the most comprehensive search engine today is aware of no more than 16% of publicly-accessible Web pages.

What all of this means is that while the Internet can be an excellent place to conduct your research, do not rely on it exclusively, or you will miss a great deal of information.

WHY EVALUATE WEB SITES?
 

• Anyone can create a web page, including people who don’t know what they’re talking about!
• There is no formal editorial process for most web pages like there is for the publication of books and periodical articles. Web sites are not limited to credible, verifiable sources, bearing the stamp of reputable publishers.
• Finding information on the Web is easy. Finding quality information is more difficult.

Critical thinking skills and an active, questioning mind are needed to judge the credibility of information found on the Web.

CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING INFORMATION (ON THE WEB)

Purpose of the site/intended audience

• Are the goals of the author stated? Is there a statement of scope, target audience, or purpose?
• Who do you think the site is designed for? What audience are the site’s authors trying to reach?
• Can you tell if the site is scholarly or popular?
• Does the site contain advertising? What might this tell you?
• What is the overall purpose of the site? To inform? Persuade or advocate? Entertain? Sell a product?

Authority/credibility of author

• Can the author of the site be identified? Is it clear who has ultimate responsibility for the content of the material, whether it be an individual or an organization?
• Is contact information given so that you can get in touch with the author or organization for clarification or more information?
• What are the author’s qualifications? Does he/she list his/her occupation, years of experience, position, or education?
• Do you think the author has expertise on the subject? Are they a researcher or professional in this field?
• What is the author’s institutional affiliation, if any? Is the author affiliated with an educational institution? A non-profit organization? A company?
• What is the domain of the site (.edu, .gov, .org, .com)? Is it a commercial, governmental, organizational, academic, or personal site? From what country does it originate?
• Is this site connected to an organization of any sort? If so, what is the mission of this organization?

Accuracy / reliability of the information on the site

• Does the site appear to be well-researched?
• Are there references to sources of information supporting any statements made or viewpoints held?
• Is statistical information labeled clearly and easy to read?
• Are the sources for any factual or statistical information documented so that the numbers can be verified in another source?
• What method of data collection or research was used by the author (if applicable)?
• Does the site include grammatical, spelling, or typographical errors?
• How does the site compare to print information resources available on this topic?
• If links to other sites are listed, are they quality sites?

Currency/timeliness of the information on the site

• When was this information published? Does the page list the date it was created?
• Does the page indicate when it was last updated?
• Are there any “dead” links – links to sites that no longer work?

Objectivity / bias of the site

• Are the goals of the author clearly stated? Is there a statement of scope, target audience, or purpose?
• Does the site present many opinions on the topic, or only one?
• Can you tell if the site contains mostly opinions or facts?
• Are opinions supported by documented evidence?
• Can you identify any bias in the information and opinions provided?
• Is the site sponsored by a company or organization?
• Does the site reflect the agenda of a political, religious, or social group or institution?
• If there is advertising on the site, is it clearly differentiated from the informational content?

Structure / navigation of the site

• Is the organization of the site easy to understand? Is it clear and logical?
• Is it easy to navigate between different parts of the site?
• Is there a link to return to the first page of the site, the home page?
• Does the site offer a table of contents or a site index?
• Does the site offer a search box?
• Do graphics on the site add to or detract from the document itself?

Conclusion

• Is this site a reliable, well-documented source of information from a reputable author / organization?
• 
  Would this be a good source of information for a research paper?

This course was developed by Joanna Burkhardt, Mary MacDonald  and Andrée Rathemacher and was adapted for online use by Jim Kinnie as part of the URI Libraries Plan for Information Literacy - http://www.uri.edu/library/instruction_services/infolitplan.html

Copyright © 1994-2002. University of Rhode Island. Disclaimer: http://www.uri.edu/home/about/disclaimer.html