Last week, in class Elisabetta and I tried to think about the criteria we consider when we surf the Internet looking for information. Indeed, on the basis of the these criteria it is easier to see if the information found on a Website, Journal, .pdf files, .doc, abstract or citation is reliable or not. The list we made had four questions we should ask ourselves:
_ Who is the author?
_ When was it published?
_ Why was it published?
_ What kind of style, accuracy, structure and content is offered?
In debate Sarah invited us to read the Websites below in order to judge what other students consider when they are looking for reliable information.
http://www.essex.ac.uk/myskills/skills/research/criticalUseInternet.asp#09
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/hypertext/EvalSrcW/index.html
http://infodome.sdsu.edu/research/evaluate/evaluate.shtml#questions
I agree with the criteria listed in all these sites. In order to filter data found in the Internet, I used to use "google search" but fortunately after the lesson of last week I found out about other also other tools such as :
Google Blogs (http://blogsearch.google.com/),
Google Books (http://books.google.com/books),
Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.it/),
the Directory of Open Access Journal (http://www.doaj.org/)
Online Catalogue of Padua University (http://www.cab.unipd.it/).
Summing up, I can say that what I can do for now is to search for the information I need for my thesis with some criteria that allow me to speed up the reading, skim through and skip over unimportant information. The new tools of support in my research are not only some general search engines such as Google Advanced but also the five Websites I put on the list above.
_ Who is the author?
_ When was it published?
_ Why was it published?
_ What kind of style, accuracy, structure and content is offered?
In debate Sarah invited us to read the Websites below in order to judge what other students consider when they are looking for reliable information.
http://www.essex.ac.uk/myskills/skills/research/criticalUseInternet.asp#09
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/hypertext/EvalSrcW/index.html
http://infodome.sdsu.edu/research/evaluate/evaluate.shtml#questions
I agree with the criteria listed in all these sites. In order to filter data found in the Internet, I used to use "google search" but fortunately after the lesson of last week I found out about other also other tools such as :
Google Blogs (http://blogsearch.google.com/),
Google Books (http://books.google.com/books),
Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.it/),
the Directory of Open Access Journal (http://www.doaj.org/)
Online Catalogue of Padua University (http://www.cab.unipd.it/).
Summing up, I can say that what I can do for now is to search for the information I need for my thesis with some criteria that allow me to speed up the reading, skim through and skip over unimportant information. The new tools of support in my research are not only some general search engines such as Google Advanced but also the five Websites I put on the list above.
Dear Elena,
RispondiEliminaI think your post summarizes well what we did in class last week. I agree with you on the fact that deciding whether a source is reliable or not is not an easy task at all. Therefore, following the “rules” you mentioned is a good starting point.
I am convinced that I will take advantage of these on-line tools that are both easy to use and available at any time. As a matter of fact, if you want to look for a book in a library you have to observe its timetable. On the contrary, on Google Books you can have access to many books whenever you want.
As for the language I think you should change a few things:
• We tried to think about THE criteria (I’d put the definite article because you define of which criteria you are talking about);
• On the basis of them (without ‘the’). I would explain this concept differently, for example: “thanks to these criteria, searching for information on the Internet is easier than etc. etc.”;
• I would say easier than something else (comparison);
• Either you say websites, journals, .pdf files etc. or a website, a journal, a .pdf file (I suggest you not to mix singular nouns with plural nouns);
• Made out: I do not think this is the right word. Maybe you wanted to say “we came up with”;
• ‘Cover with’ means hide, protect. Here I think that ‘cover the following points’ would be better;
• if you keep ‘the list’ as a subject you should say “the list covers” (-s of third person singular);
• Points is too similar to the Italian ‘punti’. I would use a different word;
• Put an underscore before the first question (_Who is the author?);
• In THE debate;
• Looking for (spelling mistake);
• I didn’t understand very well what you mean with “The only thing I didn’t find...and then published”;
• I did not find (found is wrong);
• Information is uncountable (a piece of information);
• Fortunately (spelling mistake: add an ‘e’);
• I would say “after the lesson we had last week” rather than “the lesson of last week”;
• Such as (erase “for example”);
• The Directory of... and THE Online Catalogue of Padua University;
• Simplify is the keyword for our posts. Therefore, I would leave “with certain knowledge” out;
• “I can do up to now” (but are you sure you wanted to say up to now? Did you mean from now on, maybe?);
• Motor engine or search engine? Look up in the dictionary;
• “the five websites I put on THE list above”: here I would use the definite article because you are referring to something specific and that you have already mentioned;
• Use clickable words instead of URLs.
I hope that these hints could help you to correct your post. I am not a teacher and I have many things to learn. I must improve my English a lot, so before change what you wrote, please check again. I am waiting for your corrections... and since I wrote quite a long post, I am sure you will find a lot of horrible mistakes :-)
See you soon,
Have a nice day,
Francesca Martellozzo