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Go to the FAQ for Chapter
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How reliable are Internet documents? My instructor won't let us use any Internet sources at all because she understands that Internet sources can be changed instantly, without warning or trace. Other instructors let students use any sources they want. Who's right?
Your instructor is right to observe that URLs for Internet sources can be "changed instantly." (See our discussion of the invisible revisability of Internet sources in the FAQ for Chapter 1.) But that revisability does not automatically translate into untrustworthiness! In fact, many Web sites depend on frequent updates to keep their data current. Responsible Web authors always include a date of last revision in their documents. Because Internet documents are so dynamic, it's up to the user--you--to become proficient in determining which sources are reputable. There's no Bureau of Internet Credibility. Anyone with an Internet connection can publish whatever material he or she desires on the World Wide Web. (David Boraks tells the story of one unfortunate student who grew careless.) The most general search tools such as AltaVista, Infoseek, and Yahoo! have no way to measure reliability either, which means that their search results give worthwhile, mediocre, and worthless sites equal prominence. Several tools are being developed to help Internet users understand these issues and employ good evaluation strategies. See Chapter 4 of Online! for more on the subject, and visit these sites:
Evaluating Internet Information Evaluating Internet Resources Evaluating Web Resources Evaluation of Information Sources Thinking Critically about WWW Resources Last revised April 30, 2001
Copyright © 2001 by
Bedford / St. Martin's
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