FINDING HIGH QUALITY
Information Online
Mickey Angel T. Cortez. November 4, 2020
Information in the library and on the Web differ, although e-books are present in the latter. Thus, finding high-quality information online requires a distinct set of rules and guidelines. Here are some key differences between the information obtained from the library and online:
By this comparison, you would notice how the information you will acquire from the internet is less likely to be consistent and high quality than what you would obtain from the library. Thus, being a critical thinker plays a crucial part in your process of filtering and selecting. A critical thinker seeks beyond the superficial, face-value content and persistently questions the authenticity, credibility, and authority of the information. An information literate individual is not two things: first, gullible, and second, immediately reactive to the information he/she confronts. Acting as a judge in a courtroom, a critical thinker weighs the information as innocent or guilty.
We keep on mentioning high-quality information, but how do we even define the terms and conditions of what high quality is? The abstract concept of quality in the context of information is determined by the accuracy, authority, and immutability of its content, source, database, and type of medium used for delivery. A piece of ideal information online is well-written and well-edited, peer-reviewed, derived from reputable sources and authorities, delivered in a format that is not able to be modified easily, and stored in a secured and generally trusted database. Below is an interactive checklist that shall guide your discernment process.
Content that is free from misspellings, missed punctuation marks, and errors are usually dissertations, thesis, and research articles/papers in PDF format. These are the ideal sources of information because they are most likely to produce primary and peer-reviewed data and published for the purpose of thickening the literature in the discipline instead of gaining profits.
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The presence of references, date of publication, and the content's author is a good sign that the information was presented and produced with thought and consideration for possible citations.
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Furthermore, the presence of references at the bottom will allow you to determine the content's accuracy and consistency with the current findingy.
The source of information and its author will speak volumes of the content's quality. You have to ensure that the author's credentials are indicative of expertise and first-hand experiences in the subject matter that he/she is discussing.
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Keep in mind their achievements in the field and educational background too. The more prominent the author is, the more credible and apt their information should be. In short, an author's reputation is paramount in critically evaluating the information at hand.
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Be highly aware of relevance, however. One might be an educated expert yet remain not credible in a particular area of study. For instance, you should not trust the dentist's words about eyes but you would if they came from an ophthalmologist.
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Domains ending with .edu, .org, and .gov are more likely to produce high-quality information because they are peer-reviewed. By scrutinizing the domain with a keener eye. you can avoid falling prey to the online fraudsters who cybersquat well-known websites. For instance, en.UNESCO.org is a legit website of UNESCO, but UNESCO.org.co is not.
However, a caveat is how to secure these databases based on their history of hacking or lack thereof. Expert hackers usually target legitimate government sites. Thus, it will be best to be armed with a healthy amount of skepticism when navigating these sites with the said domains.
On the other hand, repositories such as Science Direct, Gale Virtual Library, and Scopus, which publish peer-reviewed journal articles, are the leading source of scholarly information online.
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By asking these questions, you will be able to apply the principles of critical thinking when faced with a situation wherein you need to gather a slew of sources to back up your claims/expand your knowledge. In addition, you will be able to draw the demarcating line between trustworthy information from those which are not.
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In the web and social media, you have to watch out for three types of information disorders. According to UNESCO (2013), “digital technology and social platforms are conduits of the information disorder.” Needless to say, these are the types of information to be avoided.
A Venn diagram is provided below in order to differentiate the following:
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Disinformation - typical examples: fake news, conspiracy theories, rumors;
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Misinformation - typical examples: unintentional grammatical, typographical, or data errors, or when satirical content is interpreted literally (Derakhshan and Wardle, 2017);
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Mal-information - typical examples: hate speech, harassment, and unwarranted leakage of private information to cause an online ruckus or scandal (Asanov, 2019).
In addition, here’s a video by Shout Out UK (2020) elucidating the three terms:
Red Flags
Exaggerated and Hyperbolic Deadlines
This audience-baiting tactic is rapidly proliferating and prevalent online, where more views and clicks translate to more advertisers investing in a site/channel.
Misspelled Words and Bad Grammar
These are usually found in advertised content that primarily aims to garner audience visits and views than to share information from an educational perspective.
No Public Information about the Author
Without information about the author, it will be impossible for you to assess his/her credibility and expertise regarding the topic at hand.
No Author and Date of Publication
The date of publication is essential in assessing the relevance and timeliness of the content you are consuming. Having up-to-date information is beneficial for your cognitive awareness.
Recommended Sources of Information
Journal Articles
Website ending with a domain name of .edu and .gov
Theses/Dissertations/Laboratory Findings
​Digital version of books (e-books).
OERs from organizations such as Crash Course, GCF Global, and Khan Academy
1. Use Google Scholar
Google Scholar is an efficient search engine that retrieves scholarly articles within seconds. It automatically shows the bibliography entry of the source in various citation styles by clicking the quotation mark below the results.
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Click this
And this
will show up
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2. Append the keyword, “PDF”
or “pdf” to your Google searches
This trick will increase your efficiency in obtaining journal articles, research studies, or official handbooks pertinent to your topic since most of these information materials are stored in this format. PDF documents, unlike word documents, are immutable.
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3. References and Bibliography
If you find valuable or intriguing information in the primary source which cites another author, consider proceeding in the references/bibliography section of the written work to look for the particular secondary/tertiary source online. Then, read and cite it instead. This is to ensure that the information has not been misinterpreted or distorted by the primary author.
4. Analyze the Methodology
Although you are basing on sources that are likely to be credible and authentic, you still need to be skeptical of the details. Read the methodologies of the study and do not base its credibility and accuracy on its title. Look at the scope and limitations of the study so you can infer the margin of error for yourself in case these were not stated explicitly by the researchers. It could either be that the sample was too small or too generalized for the findings and conclusion to be valid.
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5. Chrome Extensions to Install
Some of the applications in the Chrome Web store are helpful for researching and highlighting. Download Weava Highlighter to highlight text from websites and make notes about them. Create an account in Weava to organize into folders your highlighted digital texts.
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When it comes to researching or learning about a topic, opening multiple tabs at once is expected to occur. Sometimes, they get too many to the point of not being able to recall any longer from which site you have found certain information. Tab Manager Plus for Chrome comes to the rescue in this situation. It allows you to color-code tabs and add a label or group them. Isn't that great?
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Factors to Consider Before Incorporating
an Information into Your Work
Learning Outcomes
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Learners will be able to differentiate information on the web and in the library, and thus will be pre-conditioned to approach and consider the information they find online more critically
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Learners will be able to define what is high-quality information
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Learners will be able to assess the quality, accuracy, and credibility of the content they find online with respect to its source, database, and details
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Learners will be able to identify and differentiate information disorders online
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Learners will be able to distinguish information red flags and recommended sources of information
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Learners will be able to apply in their searching process the stated ways and tricks to retrieve and filter information on the web more quickly and effectively
Red Flags and Recommended
Sources of Information
Tips from a Distance Learning Student
Information Disorders
ACTIVITY 1
TED Talk Reflection
20-30 MINS
Watch the video and answer the ff. questions:
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How do sponsored editorials affect the quality of information?
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Does fake news have real-world consequences? If so, what are these?
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What are the preventive steps to avoid getting misled by fake news?
Video Source: TEDx Talks (2017)
References
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Malik, D. (2019, July 9). Unable To Find The Published Date Of A Web Page? Here Are 6 Hacks To See It. Digital Information World. https://www.digitalinformationworld.com/2019/07/tips-and-tricks-how-to-find-a-publication-date-of-a-website-blog-article.html
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Schudson, M., & Zelizer, B. (2018, March 8). Understanding and Addressing the Disinformation Ecosystem. First Draft. https://firstdraftnews.org/latest/understanding-disinformation/
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Shout Out UK. (2020). How to understand Misinformation, Disinformation and Malinformation [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD5MmuLDeFE
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UNESCO. (2013). Information literacy | United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Retrieved August 11, 2020, from www.unesco.org website: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/access-to-knowledge/information-literacy/
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TEDx Talks. (2017). Information Literacy | Kevin Arms | TEDxLSSC. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BAfs_oDevw