Posts
The new issue of College and Undergraduate Libraries 15 (1/2) (2008) is on critical thinking. Stephanie Mathson and I have an article in it titled "We Won't Be Fooled Again: Teaching Critical Thinking via Evaluation of Hoax and Historical Revisionist Websites in a Library Credit Course." The article is not online but Stephanie and I are pleased with it.
From the abstract:
At Central Michigan University, librarians teach multiple sections of an eight-week, one-credit research skills class to hundreds of undergraduate students each semester. While the main focus of the course is to teach students how to find, use, and properly cite library resources, librarians also address critical thinking skills by designing lessons to teach World Wide Web organization and how to analyze the information found via search engines. Showing student's obvious hoax sites about “tree octopi” and “male pregnancy” introduces the concepts of critical thinking and Website analysis. Most students quickly refute the information on such sites. However, students have a more difficult time assessing social, historical, or political revisionist Web sites' validity. Contrasting those claims with evidence accepted by international courts, historians, and scientists is useful in pointing out the flaws of seemingly well documented but one-sided revisionist sites. There are dangers in exposing students to these groups via their Websites. Yet, it is important to do so in order to convey the importance of critical analysis of information. The authors discuss students' preand post-test (CMU's online assessment tool, the “research readiness self-assessment” [RRSA]) scores to determine whether critical thinking skills have improved.
Showing posts with label Web Searching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Web Searching. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
We Won't Be Fooled Again: Teaching Critical Thinking via Evaluation of Hoax and Historical Revisionist Websites in a Library Credit Course
Friday, April 04, 2008
Why the Information Literacy Land of Confusion?
I am often asked why I named this blog the Information Literacy Land of Confusion. There is a reason behind it. Here is the story.
In 2000, I conducted a study with high school student in the Lansing, Michigan area. It was a qualitative study which interviewed students asking them how they used the Web to find information for research. The result of my findings were published as:
"The Land of Confusion? High School Students and Their Use of the Web for Research." Research Strategies 18, no. 2 (2001): 151-163.
That is the story. Based on my logs, I know many of my hits are from people looking for free downloads of the Genesis song or the recent Disturbed remake of it. I am sorry to disappoint them. However, I am sticking with the name for this blog. And even if I do not update as frequently as I used to, I plan on sticking around.
In 2000, I conducted a study with high school student in the Lansing, Michigan area. It was a qualitative study which interviewed students asking them how they used the Web to find information for research. The result of my findings were published as:
"The Land of Confusion? High School Students and Their Use of the Web for Research." Research Strategies 18, no. 2 (2001): 151-163.
I was a bit taken aback by what I believed I found. Here is the abstract from the article:
"Examines high school students' use of the World Wide Web to complete assignments. Findings showed the students used a good variety of resources, including libraries and the World Wide Web, to find information for assignments. However, students were weak at determining the quality of the information found on web sites. Students did poorly at evaluating web site information in the absence of gatekeepers."
Most of the students were using search engines as gatekeepers. Google is a good gatekeeper for keeping spam out of search results. However, it is not a peer-reviewed resource in the sense that it can help students actually find the best scholarly resources. Yet, this is what many students were using it for anyway.
In 2003, I finally decided to indulge my curiosity about blogs and start one myself. Information literacy seemed like a good topic to write about although I have always been willing to write about other issues and my life in general at times.
Obviously, the name of this blog is related to the title of the 2001 article in Research Strategies. I gave the name to the article based on a song from the 80s band Genesis. In that song, Phil Collins sang, "Can't you see this a land of confusion?"
The lyrics seemed to me to apply to how many students were using the Web to find information when doing research. In the absence of the expertise of scholars, the Web had become and yet is a literal land of confusion. Surfer beware. I like the Web and can not imagine living without it. It can provide good information. But is not quite where it needs to be yet.That is the story. Based on my logs, I know many of my hits are from people looking for free downloads of the Genesis song or the recent Disturbed remake of it. I am sorry to disappoint them. However, I am sticking with the name for this blog. And even if I do not update as frequently as I used to, I plan on sticking around.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
"Google Generation" Myths
Are the kids born after 1993 really that different from older people when it comes to searching? An article from the Christian Science Monitor suggests that is not the case. The article is titled 'Google Generation' myths.
The article reports on a study that both kids and adults begin searches for information on search engines and that both groups bounce from source to source. The big difference between the two groups is the respect for copyright law and intellectual property. The kids are really bad in this regard.
Here are a few quotes relating to information literacy:
- Though students usually show a high degree of computer literacy, their "information literacy" (ability to find and absorb high-quality information) is often not good, the study says. They spend little time evaluating information found on the Internet. They need to be taught better skills for weighing the accuracy, relevance, and authority of what they find.
- To provide this help, libraries will have to change their image. Students often think of them as just places full of books, not high-tech information resources. That's true even of college students, 89 percent of whom begin their research using a general search engine rather than a library website. Nearly all of those college students were satisfied with their search. And that's the problem. If libraries are to be relevant, they must teach more sophisticated research methods.
The article reports on a study that both kids and adults begin searches for information on search engines and that both groups bounce from source to source. The big difference between the two groups is the respect for copyright law and intellectual property. The kids are really bad in this regard.
Here are a few quotes relating to information literacy:
- Though students usually show a high degree of computer literacy, their "information literacy" (ability to find and absorb high-quality information) is often not good, the study says. They spend little time evaluating information found on the Internet. They need to be taught better skills for weighing the accuracy, relevance, and authority of what they find.
- To provide this help, libraries will have to change their image. Students often think of them as just places full of books, not high-tech information resources. That's true even of college students, 89 percent of whom begin their research using a general search engine rather than a library website. Nearly all of those college students were satisfied with their search. And that's the problem. If libraries are to be relevant, they must teach more sophisticated research methods.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Computer Literacy Doesn't Mean Information Literacy, Report Says
There is an article up at the Chronicle of Higher Education titled Computer Literacy Doesn't Mean Information Literacy, Report Says. My thanks to Keith Tipton for the tip.
From the article:
The next generation of college students, more wired than any other, might not be as good at Internet research as you may think.
A new report from the Joint Information Systems Committee, a British higher-education research institute, says the “Google Generation” (those born after 1993, who can’t remember a time when the Internet wasn’t widely available) may be computer literate. But that doesn’t make them information literate. Some of the key problems the study found include:
- Young people don’t develop good search strategies to find quality information.
- They might find information on the Internet quickly, but they don’t know how to evaluate the quality of what they find.
- They don’t understand what the Internet really is: a vast network with many different content providers.
From the article:
The next generation of college students, more wired than any other, might not be as good at Internet research as you may think.
A new report from the Joint Information Systems Committee, a British higher-education research institute, says the “Google Generation” (those born after 1993, who can’t remember a time when the Internet wasn’t widely available) may be computer literate. But that doesn’t make them information literate. Some of the key problems the study found include:
- Young people don’t develop good search strategies to find quality information.
- They might find information on the Internet quickly, but they don’t know how to evaluate the quality of what they find.
- They don’t understand what the Internet really is: a vast network with many different content providers.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Self-Efficacy and Use of Electronic Information as Predictors of Academic Performance
Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship has a nice article up by Adeyinka Tella, Adedeji Tella, C. O. Ayeni, and R. O. Ogie. The article is titled Self-Efficacy and Use of Electronic Information as Predictors of Academic Performance.
The abstract notes, "Students’ ability to find and retrieve information effectively is a transferable skill useful for their future life as well as enabling the positive and successful use of the electronic resources while at school. It is a known fact in this digital era that any student at the higher level who intends to better achieve and go further in academics should have the ability to explore the digital environment. Students are increasingly expected to use electronic information resources while at the university. Research was undertaken to determine the level of influence of self-efficacy and the use of electronic information resources on students’ academic performance. This study examined self-efficacy and the use of electronic information as predictors of academic performance. Its participants were comprised of 700 students (undergraduate and postgraduate) randomly drawn from seven departments in the faculty of education, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Data on the study was collected through the Morgan-Jinks (1999) academic self-efficacy scale and the use of the electronic information scale (UEIS) with r = 0.75. Three research questions were raised to guide the study. The results indicate that self-efficacy and the use of electronic information jointly predict and contribute to academic performance; that respondents with high self-efficacy make better use of electronic information and have better academic performance; that a correlation exists among self-efficacy, use of electronic information and academic performance; and that the use of electronic information influenced respondents' performance in General Education subjects more than other subjects. Finally, the results reveal that the Internet is the electronic information source students access for information most often. Implications of these results and recommendations are discussed."
Not surprisingly, students in Nigeria are using electronic resources (including the Web) more than they are using print resources. While not a shocking finding, I am still surprised that this is happening in Africa already. Sit at a Reference Desk in the USA and you will find just how dependent college students are on the Web and how much is necessary to teach the students to evaluate the stuff they find online. There is some good information resources online (both library purchased and free) but there is a lot of questionable material that looks good to students as well. African educators will have to deal with this too as Web access gets more universal there.
The authors end with a few suggestion dealing with that. They write, "In the light of the issues outlined surrounding personality variable of self-efficacy and the use of electronic information (the Internet in particular) it would be helpful to finish by making some recommendations that may help to improve the use that both staff and students make of the Internet and other electronic information sources. Academic staff and students should be made aware that the information available on the Internet is beneficial and of interest. Training and guidance in making use of electronic information sources (including the Internet) should be offered to both academic staff and students. It would be beneficial if new skills were integrated into the curriculum so that students could be taught how to conduct effective searches. This would enable them to be able to discriminate between good and bad articles and reference material. Electronic information resources should be available for use at any time. Information literacy as a course should be made compulsory for all students irrespective of their discipline. This will go a long way in increasing the knowledge level of the learners regarding the use of electronic information."
The abstract notes, "Students’ ability to find and retrieve information effectively is a transferable skill useful for their future life as well as enabling the positive and successful use of the electronic resources while at school. It is a known fact in this digital era that any student at the higher level who intends to better achieve and go further in academics should have the ability to explore the digital environment. Students are increasingly expected to use electronic information resources while at the university. Research was undertaken to determine the level of influence of self-efficacy and the use of electronic information resources on students’ academic performance. This study examined self-efficacy and the use of electronic information as predictors of academic performance. Its participants were comprised of 700 students (undergraduate and postgraduate) randomly drawn from seven departments in the faculty of education, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Data on the study was collected through the Morgan-Jinks (1999) academic self-efficacy scale and the use of the electronic information scale (UEIS) with r = 0.75. Three research questions were raised to guide the study. The results indicate that self-efficacy and the use of electronic information jointly predict and contribute to academic performance; that respondents with high self-efficacy make better use of electronic information and have better academic performance; that a correlation exists among self-efficacy, use of electronic information and academic performance; and that the use of electronic information influenced respondents' performance in General Education subjects more than other subjects. Finally, the results reveal that the Internet is the electronic information source students access for information most often. Implications of these results and recommendations are discussed."
Not surprisingly, students in Nigeria are using electronic resources (including the Web) more than they are using print resources. While not a shocking finding, I am still surprised that this is happening in Africa already. Sit at a Reference Desk in the USA and you will find just how dependent college students are on the Web and how much is necessary to teach the students to evaluate the stuff they find online. There is some good information resources online (both library purchased and free) but there is a lot of questionable material that looks good to students as well. African educators will have to deal with this too as Web access gets more universal there.
The authors end with a few suggestion dealing with that. They write, "In the light of the issues outlined surrounding personality variable of self-efficacy and the use of electronic information (the Internet in particular) it would be helpful to finish by making some recommendations that may help to improve the use that both staff and students make of the Internet and other electronic information sources. Academic staff and students should be made aware that the information available on the Internet is beneficial and of interest. Training and guidance in making use of electronic information sources (including the Internet) should be offered to both academic staff and students. It would be beneficial if new skills were integrated into the curriculum so that students could be taught how to conduct effective searches. This would enable them to be able to discriminate between good and bad articles and reference material. Electronic information resources should be available for use at any time. Information literacy as a course should be made compulsory for all students irrespective of their discipline. This will go a long way in increasing the knowledge level of the learners regarding the use of electronic information."
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Study: Food in McDonald's wrapper tastes better to kids
Well, I do not find this to be surprising. CNN has an article titled Study: Food in McDonald's wrapper tastes better to kids. Carrots in a McDonald's wrapper taste better to kids than carrots without a McDonald's wrapper!
The article notes, "Anything made by McDonald's tastes better, preschoolers said in a study that powerfully demonstrates how advertising can trick the taste buds of young children. In comparing identical McDonald's foods in name-brand and plain wrappers, the unmarked foods always lost. Even carrots, milk and apple juice tasted better to the kids when they were wrapped in the familiar packaging of the Golden Arches. The study had youngsters sample identical McDonald's foods in name-brand and unmarked wrappers. The unmarked foods always lost the taste test."
I wonder how this impacts information literacy and Web evaluation skills? Do students automatically trust information on some sites based on previous marketing exposure? Can corporations over time build trust in their brands to such a degree that information on their Web sites seems better to some surfers? Might make for an interesting study.
The article notes, "Anything made by McDonald's tastes better, preschoolers said in a study that powerfully demonstrates how advertising can trick the taste buds of young children. In comparing identical McDonald's foods in name-brand and plain wrappers, the unmarked foods always lost. Even carrots, milk and apple juice tasted better to the kids when they were wrapped in the familiar packaging of the Golden Arches. The study had youngsters sample identical McDonald's foods in name-brand and unmarked wrappers. The unmarked foods always lost the taste test."
I wonder how this impacts information literacy and Web evaluation skills? Do students automatically trust information on some sites based on previous marketing exposure? Can corporations over time build trust in their brands to such a degree that information on their Web sites seems better to some surfers? Might make for an interesting study.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
36 percent of online American adults consult Wikipedia
The Pew Internet and American Life Project is reporting that 36 percent of online American adults consult Wikipedia. According to the report, the higher the level of education the more likely the person was to use Wikipedia. Clearly, educated Americans who are aware that Wikipedia may have errors are still using it. Could this be because Wikipedia is free, easy to use, and mostly (good enough) accurate the reason why? I expect this number to grow in the future and not go down.Some highlights from the report:
More than one-third of American adult Internet users consult the citizen-generated online encyclopedia Wikipedia, according to a new nationwide survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. And on a typical day, 8 percent of online Americans consult Wikipedia. In addition, the use of Wikipedia is more popular than some of the more prominent online activities tracked by Pew, including auctions, purchasing, dating, chat rooms and travel reservations.
Although there has been ongoing controversy about the reliability of articles on Wikipedia, the Pew survey shows that Wikipedia is far more popular among the well-educated than it is among those with lower levels of education.
- 50 percent of those with at least a college degree consult the site compared with 22 percent of those with a high school diploma.
- 46 percent of those age 18 and older who are current full- or part-time students have used Wikipedia compared with 36 percent of the overall Internet population.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Boosting Information Literacy Skills
Here is some news on information literacy from Brunei Darussalam. Dr. David Prescott of Universiti Brunei Darussalam gave two workshops at the 3rd CamTESOL conference on English Language Teaching in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This is from the article Borneo Bulletin Online and it is titled Boosting information literacy skills.The article notes, "The aim of Dr Prescott's workshops was to enable participants to experience an Internet search method, which is structured to help develop students' information literacy skills and improve their ability to use the information they find on the Internet effectively and appropriately. Participants in the workshop were directed to use the Internet to search for information on the topic of English language materials as found on several well-known ESL websites."
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Google Librarian Central Blog
OK, there is now a Google Librarian Central Blog. I have not been to impressed with Google Librarian Central to date. Most of the suggestions and notes are simplistic to anyone who has studied Google a lot already which includes many librarians. In addition, the Google Librarian team has ignored several e-mails I have sent them including my offers to contribute content to the Google Librarian Newsletter. I realize they are busy but they really should respond even if it is a polite decline.
However, I am a big fan of Google. It is my favorite search engine and I use it all the time. I appreciate that Google is attempting to reach out to librarians and I will be paying attention to this blog. I just might find a good piece of information.
From the site:
I'm pleased to say that today, we're implementing one of your biggest requests. When we asked how we could improve the Google Librarian Newsletter, many of you said, "Make it a blog!" or "Send more up-to-date information." We've taken your feedback to heart, and we're doing just that. Starting today, the Librarian Center will make its home at http://librariancentral.blogspot.com, where you'll find the latest Google news, updates, and tips relevant to the librarian community. The blog includes links to the Newsletter Archive, the Your Stories page, and the Tools and Videos sections. And of course, we'll continue to add to these pages and develop new features.
We're excited about communicating Google's product and feature launches to you as they happen. You can even sign up to receive these blog posts by email, or choose to read them from your Google Personalized Homepage or Google Reader (or your preferred blog reader). For those of you who still prefer to hear from us on a quarterly basis, we'll continue to send out the Librarian Newsletter, which will include the "best of" the previous months' blog posts. As with many Google launches, consider this blog a beta test, open to refinements and changes over time. We'll be looking closely at your feedback, so please let us know what you think.
However, I am a big fan of Google. It is my favorite search engine and I use it all the time. I appreciate that Google is attempting to reach out to librarians and I will be paying attention to this blog. I just might find a good piece of information.
From the site:
I'm pleased to say that today, we're implementing one of your biggest requests. When we asked how we could improve the Google Librarian Newsletter, many of you said, "Make it a blog!" or "Send more up-to-date information." We've taken your feedback to heart, and we're doing just that. Starting today, the Librarian Center will make its home at http://librariancentral.blogspot.com, where you'll find the latest Google news, updates, and tips relevant to the librarian community. The blog includes links to the Newsletter Archive, the Your Stories page, and the Tools and Videos sections. And of course, we'll continue to add to these pages and develop new features.
We're excited about communicating Google's product and feature launches to you as they happen. You can even sign up to receive these blog posts by email, or choose to read them from your Google Personalized Homepage or Google Reader (or your preferred blog reader). For those of you who still prefer to hear from us on a quarterly basis, we'll continue to send out the Librarian Newsletter, which will include the "best of" the previous months' blog posts. As with many Google launches, consider this blog a beta test, open to refinements and changes over time. We'll be looking closely at your feedback, so please let us know what you think.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Wikiseek
Does your search engine disappoint you? Would you rather only find content that is from Wikipedia or linked to from Wikipedia articles? The tool for you is at hand with the launch today of Wikiseek.
The site description reads, "The contents of Wikiseek are restricted to Wikipedia pages and only those sites which are referenced within Wikipedia, making it an authoritative source of information less subject to spam and SEO schemes. Wikiseek utilizes Searchme's category refinement technology, providing suggested search refinements based on user tagging and categorization within Wikipedia, making results more relevant than conventional search engines."
Although Wikipedia may have problems, all the content there is peer reviewed. Further, all the links to other Web sites are ruthlessly examined and weeded on a regular basis making it hard for any but the best sites to survive long term. If you disagree with any of the content or links, you can change it, discuss it, and view the history of how changes have been made. The Wikipedia project is truly open.
However, I do have concerns on basing a search engine entirely on Wikipedia. If something is not in Wikipedia, is it not worth finding? I kind of view Wikipedia like any other encyclopedia. It is a good starting point for background information but not in and of itself a source to use for serious research. Hence, any search engine (like Wikiseek) based on it is only a place to find the background information. Other tools (like library databases and other search engines) would be needed in many cases to move into deeper content.
How are students going to react to this search engine? While some give up Google and use this? I know many of the college students use Wikipedia as their main research tool so this may be a logical extension to them.
The site description reads, "The contents of Wikiseek are restricted to Wikipedia pages and only those sites which are referenced within Wikipedia, making it an authoritative source of information less subject to spam and SEO schemes. Wikiseek utilizes Searchme's category refinement technology, providing suggested search refinements based on user tagging and categorization within Wikipedia, making results more relevant than conventional search engines."
Although Wikipedia may have problems, all the content there is peer reviewed. Further, all the links to other Web sites are ruthlessly examined and weeded on a regular basis making it hard for any but the best sites to survive long term. If you disagree with any of the content or links, you can change it, discuss it, and view the history of how changes have been made. The Wikipedia project is truly open.
However, I do have concerns on basing a search engine entirely on Wikipedia. If something is not in Wikipedia, is it not worth finding? I kind of view Wikipedia like any other encyclopedia. It is a good starting point for background information but not in and of itself a source to use for serious research. Hence, any search engine (like Wikiseek) based on it is only a place to find the background information. Other tools (like library databases and other search engines) would be needed in many cases to move into deeper content.
How are students going to react to this search engine? While some give up Google and use this? I know many of the college students use Wikipedia as their main research tool so this may be a logical extension to them.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Are College Students Techno Idiots?
Are College Students Techno Idiots? This article is by Paul D. Thacker and it appeared at Inside Higher Ed. I think the title is a bit overblown but there is some good stuff here relating to information literacy. There are extensive comments from readers as well which help to make this an interesting read.
From the site:
Susan Metros, a professor of design technology at Ohio State University, says that reading, writing and arithmetic are simply not enough for today’s students. What is important for learners is information: how to find it, how to focus it, and how to filter out nonsense. But for many students, their main source for information is Google, which Metros finds troubling.
Last year, she was surprised to learn at a conference that most people look only at the first few hits that come back from a Google query. In fact, only a tiny percentage of Google users even bother to glance at the second page of the search results. “It is well below 1 percent,” she said.
Overreliance on Google is only one of many technology problems facing college students. A new report released Tuesday by the Educational Testing Service finds that students lack many basic skills in information literacy, which ETS defines as the ability to use technology to solve information problems.
From the site:
Susan Metros, a professor of design technology at Ohio State University, says that reading, writing and arithmetic are simply not enough for today’s students. What is important for learners is information: how to find it, how to focus it, and how to filter out nonsense. But for many students, their main source for information is Google, which Metros finds troubling.
Last year, she was surprised to learn at a conference that most people look only at the first few hits that come back from a Google query. In fact, only a tiny percentage of Google users even bother to glance at the second page of the search results. “It is well below 1 percent,” she said.
Overreliance on Google is only one of many technology problems facing college students. A new report released Tuesday by the Educational Testing Service finds that students lack many basic skills in information literacy, which ETS defines as the ability to use technology to solve information problems.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Create Your Own Search Engine
Google has launched a new service where websites can host custom created search engines based on Google. The Google Custom Search Engine (http://www.google.com/coop/cse/) is described as, "Harness the power of Google search to create a free Custom Search Engine that reflects your knowledge and interests. Specify the websites that you want searched - and integrate the search box and results into your own website."
That is right. You pick the web sites you want included. This service allows you to set-up a search that spam sites have no chance of intruding upon. Further, you can exclude sites which actually disagree with you! Your search engine of choice can now be just like your new service of choice. In the USA, liberals tend to watch CNN News and conservatives watch FOX News. Hey, now your search engine can be just the same! It is so annoying when opposing views get in the way of being informed...
One example of this is Real Climate (http://www.realclimate.org). The description of the site participation in the project notes, "RealClimate.org provides expert opinions on the science of climate change. Since this subject has become rather politicized, the quality of information available on the web varies. Using Google Custom Search Engine, they have created a searchable subset of the web that they believe provides the most reliable information. " By "most reliable information" the site owners mean those sites which agree with them. Since any scientist or intelligent person like Michael Crichton must be "politicized" for disagreeing with mainstream science it is best just to omit them from search results all together! I am sure the scientists of the early 17th century would have excluded any Galileo created sites from their search results too.
Just watch as junk science sites, historical revisionists, alternative medicine sites, etc. set up their own custom search engines. I can just see a site titled Holocaust Search Engine which only indexes sites which postulate that the Holocaust never happened. Or perhaps a Texas History Search which only includes sites which argue that Texas is illegally occupied by the USA. (These sites exist, I kid you not.) People like search results which agree with them. This is going to be popular with fringe groups as well as more mainstream society.
Not that I am entirely against this idea. It has real potential for areas which are not controversial. I may go out and create an Information Literacy Search Engine which only indexes good info lit sites. Or maybe an American Presidents Search Engine which indexes tons of good presidential history sites. Custom search engines can be good for K-12 schools as well for setting up safe sites to search for students. Spam sites are going to have trouble if this becomes a widely adopted technology.
It will be interesting to see how popular these custom Google search engines are and how different people are using them. Is search about to be divided up by special interests? Will people actually choose to use search engines that only provide results they agree with? Will censorship take on an acceptable face with this technology? Teaching students about using the Web and using critical thinking skills is getting harder and harder...
That is right. You pick the web sites you want included. This service allows you to set-up a search that spam sites have no chance of intruding upon. Further, you can exclude sites which actually disagree with you! Your search engine of choice can now be just like your new service of choice. In the USA, liberals tend to watch CNN News and conservatives watch FOX News. Hey, now your search engine can be just the same! It is so annoying when opposing views get in the way of being informed...
One example of this is Real Climate (http://www.realclimate.org). The description of the site participation in the project notes, "RealClimate.org provides expert opinions on the science of climate change. Since this subject has become rather politicized, the quality of information available on the web varies. Using Google Custom Search Engine, they have created a searchable subset of the web that they believe provides the most reliable information. " By "most reliable information" the site owners mean those sites which agree with them. Since any scientist or intelligent person like Michael Crichton must be "politicized" for disagreeing with mainstream science it is best just to omit them from search results all together! I am sure the scientists of the early 17th century would have excluded any Galileo created sites from their search results too.
Just watch as junk science sites, historical revisionists, alternative medicine sites, etc. set up their own custom search engines. I can just see a site titled Holocaust Search Engine which only indexes sites which postulate that the Holocaust never happened. Or perhaps a Texas History Search which only includes sites which argue that Texas is illegally occupied by the USA. (These sites exist, I kid you not.) People like search results which agree with them. This is going to be popular with fringe groups as well as more mainstream society.
Not that I am entirely against this idea. It has real potential for areas which are not controversial. I may go out and create an Information Literacy Search Engine which only indexes good info lit sites. Or maybe an American Presidents Search Engine which indexes tons of good presidential history sites. Custom search engines can be good for K-12 schools as well for setting up safe sites to search for students. Spam sites are going to have trouble if this becomes a widely adopted technology.
It will be interesting to see how popular these custom Google search engines are and how different people are using them. Is search about to be divided up by special interests? Will people actually choose to use search engines that only provide results they agree with? Will censorship take on an acceptable face with this technology? Teaching students about using the Web and using critical thinking skills is getting harder and harder...
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Most youths may be tech savvy, but they lack 'digital literacy,' report says
Most youths may be tech savvy, but they lack 'digital literacy,' report says. I found this interesting article at the Fort Worth Star Telegram. The author is Leila Fadel. I do not think that there is anything here that would surprise a librarian but I am always glad to read when higher education faculty are becoming aware of the need for information literacy.
From the site:
Of 10,000 high school and college students asked to evaluate a set of Web sites last fall, nearly half could not correctly judge which was the most objective, reliable and timely, according to preliminary results of a digital-literacy assessment. The Information and Communication Technology Assessment was administered by Educational Testing Service, a New Jersey nonprofit organization.
“What we’re finding is not only does it [digital literacy] need to be taught at the higher education level, it needs to be taught a lot younger than that,” said Terry Egan, project manager for the assessment. “I’m hoping that having an assessment like this available is going to change the paradigm of what people think is important to test and important to teach.” Students may know how to use an Internet search engine, but professors have complained that the online information students use is not reliable, said Mary Jo Lyons, information literacy coordinator at UT-Arlington.
Now, some professors are requesting seminars to teach students about the library catalog and the approximately 200 computer databases available to them at the UT-Arlington library. But unless specified in a class, information literacy seminars are not required.
From the site:
Of 10,000 high school and college students asked to evaluate a set of Web sites last fall, nearly half could not correctly judge which was the most objective, reliable and timely, according to preliminary results of a digital-literacy assessment. The Information and Communication Technology Assessment was administered by Educational Testing Service, a New Jersey nonprofit organization.
“What we’re finding is not only does it [digital literacy] need to be taught at the higher education level, it needs to be taught a lot younger than that,” said Terry Egan, project manager for the assessment. “I’m hoping that having an assessment like this available is going to change the paradigm of what people think is important to test and important to teach.” Students may know how to use an Internet search engine, but professors have complained that the online information students use is not reliable, said Mary Jo Lyons, information literacy coordinator at UT-Arlington.
Now, some professors are requesting seminars to teach students about the library catalog and the approximately 200 computer databases available to them at the UT-Arlington library. But unless specified in a class, information literacy seminars are not required.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Searching for Dummies
Searching for Dummies. This is a column from the New York Times by Edward Tenner. He writes that many students seem to lack the skills to structure their searches so they can find useful information quickly on search engines like Google, Yahoo or even MSN.
I heard Dr. Tenner speak a few weeks back at the Google Library Symposium. He was a good speaker and I think this is a thought provoking article.
Please note this is at the New York Times. At the moment, the article is freely available but it is possible that it may get moved behind a firewall in the future. Currently, registration is free if that happens so you should still be able to get access.
From the site:
While some blame reality television, MP3 players, cellphones or the multitasking that juggles them all, the big change has been the Web. Beginning in the early 1990's, schools, libraries and governments embraced the Internet as the long promised portal to information access for all. And at the heart of their hopes for a cultural and educational breakthrough were superbly efficient search engines like Google and those of its rivals Yahoo and MSN. The new search engines not only find more, they are more likely to present usable information on the first screen.
Google modestly declares its mission "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." But convenience may be part of the problem. In the Web's early days, the most serious search engine was AltaVista. To use it well, a searcher had to learn how to construct a search statement, like, say, "Engelbert Humperdinck and not Las Vegas" for the opera composer rather than the contemporary singer. It took practice to produce usable results. Now, thanks to brilliant programming, a simple query usually produces a first page that's at least adequate — "satisficing," as the economist Herbert Simon called it.
The efficiency of today's search engines arises from their ability to analyze links among Web sites. Google led in ranking sites by how often they are linked to other highly ranked sites. It did so using an elaborate variation of a concept familiar in natural science, citation analysis. Instead of looking at which papers are cited most often in the most influential journals, it measures how often Web pages are linked to highly ranked sites — ranked by links to themselves.
I heard Dr. Tenner speak a few weeks back at the Google Library Symposium. He was a good speaker and I think this is a thought provoking article.
Please note this is at the New York Times. At the moment, the article is freely available but it is possible that it may get moved behind a firewall in the future. Currently, registration is free if that happens so you should still be able to get access.
From the site:
While some blame reality television, MP3 players, cellphones or the multitasking that juggles them all, the big change has been the Web. Beginning in the early 1990's, schools, libraries and governments embraced the Internet as the long promised portal to information access for all. And at the heart of their hopes for a cultural and educational breakthrough were superbly efficient search engines like Google and those of its rivals Yahoo and MSN. The new search engines not only find more, they are more likely to present usable information on the first screen.
Google modestly declares its mission "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." But convenience may be part of the problem. In the Web's early days, the most serious search engine was AltaVista. To use it well, a searcher had to learn how to construct a search statement, like, say, "Engelbert Humperdinck and not Las Vegas" for the opera composer rather than the contemporary singer. It took practice to produce usable results. Now, thanks to brilliant programming, a simple query usually produces a first page that's at least adequate — "satisficing," as the economist Herbert Simon called it.
The efficiency of today's search engines arises from their ability to analyze links among Web sites. Google led in ranking sites by how often they are linked to other highly ranked sites. It did so using an elaborate variation of a concept familiar in natural science, citation analysis. Instead of looking at which papers are cited most often in the most influential journals, it measures how often Web pages are linked to highly ranked sites — ranked by links to themselves.
Friday, February 10, 2006
Censoring Google in China
Censoring Google in China. What a huge difference the Chinese government censorship of Google is having on search results. Via the Coming Anarchy Blog, I learned about how dramatic it can be.
Click here for a Google Image search of Tiananmen on the US Google and here for the same search on the Chinese Google.
Where are the tanks in the Chinese version? They do not exist! Very interesting.
When we talk about censorship in the United States, we are never talking about it at this level. I think it is safe to assume that the difference in results is also just as obvious in the regular Chinese Google Web search. This, coupled with Yahoo selling out a Chinese dissident and the madness over the Danish Islam cartoons, does not bode well. Expect more censorship by foreign regimes and groups in the future. I just hope we as librarians are just as willing to confront censorship issues caused by groups other than the US government or fundamentalist Christians. This overseas censorship is even scarier...
Saturday, December 10, 2005
Market research about libraries and internet use
Market research about libraries and internet use.
From the Information Literacy Weblog, "The company OCLC (seller of library services) has published a full report on a survey they commissioned from Harris Poll Online (a market research company) about perceptions of libraries and competing products and services (in particular bookstores and search engines). The 290 page report is available in full or section by section from: http://www.oclc.org/reports/2005perceptions.htm."
I also found this report fascinating. Google rules with consumers in the USA as does Amazon!
From the Information Literacy Weblog, "The company OCLC (seller of library services) has published a full report on a survey they commissioned from Harris Poll Online (a market research company) about perceptions of libraries and competing products and services (in particular bookstores and search engines). The 290 page report is available in full or section by section from: http://www.oclc.org/reports/2005perceptions.htm."
I also found this report fascinating. Google rules with consumers in the USA as does Amazon!
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Preparing To Search The Internet
Preparing To Search The Internet - This is a PowerPoint presentation by Carol Kotsch. It is geared towards 6th to 8th graders. I just put it up at LibraryInstruction.Com today. A have a few philosophical differences with a few of the points made in the presentation but as a whole I think it is an excellent teaching tool.
From the presentation:
Surfing is not searching.
An hour on the Web may not answer a question you could find with two minutes of picking up a reference book.
Libraries and department stores are planned. No one is in charge of organizing the Internet.
From the presentation:
Surfing is not searching.
An hour on the Web may not answer a question you could find with two minutes of picking up a reference book.
Libraries and department stores are planned. No one is in charge of organizing the Internet.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Google Announces Plan To Destroy All Information It Can't Index
Google Announces Plan To Destroy All Information It Can't Index. A little fun for the post-holiday return to work.
The Onion has this report on evil plans that Google has afoot including book burning and the creation of a robot army to carry out DNA scanning on humanity. This is obvious satire. However, some people are so anti-Google that I am sure this will feed the paranoia...
From the site:
Executives at Google, the rapidly growing online-search company that promises to "organize the world's information," announced Monday the latest step in their expansion effort: a far-reaching plan to destroy all the information it is unable to index.
"Our users want the world to be as simple, clean, and accessible as the Google home page itself," said Google CEO Eric Schmidt at a press conference held in their corporate offices. "Soon, it will be."
The new project, dubbed Google Purge, will join such popular services as Google Images, Google News, and Google Maps, which catalogs the entire surface of the Earth using high-resolution satellites.
As a part of Purge's first phase, executives will destroy all copyrighted materials that cannot be searched by Google.
The Onion has this report on evil plans that Google has afoot including book burning and the creation of a robot army to carry out DNA scanning on humanity. This is obvious satire. However, some people are so anti-Google that I am sure this will feed the paranoia...
From the site:
Executives at Google, the rapidly growing online-search company that promises to "organize the world's information," announced Monday the latest step in their expansion effort: a far-reaching plan to destroy all the information it is unable to index.
"Our users want the world to be as simple, clean, and accessible as the Google home page itself," said Google CEO Eric Schmidt at a press conference held in their corporate offices. "Soon, it will be."
The new project, dubbed Google Purge, will join such popular services as Google Images, Google News, and Google Maps, which catalogs the entire surface of the Earth using high-resolution satellites.
As a part of Purge's first phase, executives will destroy all copyrighted materials that cannot be searched by Google.
Thursday, July 14, 2005
New test would measure students' Web wisdom
New test would measure students' Web wisdom. I found a link to this CNN article over at KC Tipton's We Interrupt This Broadcast Blog. In essense, the Educational Testing Service is trying to devise a test that will allow for the measurement of Web evaluation skills.
While I admire the approach to this, I wonder if it matters? I truly believe most college students know that some resources are better than others on the Web. In addition, many are quite apt at picking out the better more scholarly resources. They just do not care. Students will usually choose to pick the easiest to find and read resources if the person grading the paper will accept it.
From the site:
Students apply to college online, e-mail their papers to their professors and, when they want to be cheeky, pass notes in class by text-messaging.
But that doesn't necessarily mean they have a high Internet IQ.
"They're real comfortable instant-messaging, downloading MP3 files. They're less comfortable using technology in ways that require real critical thinking," says Teresa Egan of the Educational Testing Service.
Or as Lorie Roth, assistant vice chancellor of academic programs at California State University puts it: "Every single one that comes through the door thinks that if you just go to Google and get some hits -- you've got material for your research paper right there."
That's why Cal State and a number of other colleges are working with ETS to create a test to evaluate Internet intelligence, measuring whether students can locate and verify reliable online information and whether they know how to properly use and credit the material.
While I admire the approach to this, I wonder if it matters? I truly believe most college students know that some resources are better than others on the Web. In addition, many are quite apt at picking out the better more scholarly resources. They just do not care. Students will usually choose to pick the easiest to find and read resources if the person grading the paper will accept it.
From the site:
Students apply to college online, e-mail their papers to their professors and, when they want to be cheeky, pass notes in class by text-messaging.
But that doesn't necessarily mean they have a high Internet IQ.
"They're real comfortable instant-messaging, downloading MP3 files. They're less comfortable using technology in ways that require real critical thinking," says Teresa Egan of the Educational Testing Service.
Or as Lorie Roth, assistant vice chancellor of academic programs at California State University puts it: "Every single one that comes through the door thinks that if you just go to Google and get some hits -- you've got material for your research paper right there."
That's why Cal State and a number of other colleges are working with ETS to create a test to evaluate Internet intelligence, measuring whether students can locate and verify reliable online information and whether they know how to properly use and credit the material.