Larry Gerber - Cited!: Identifying Credible Information Online

Published in 2018 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. 29 East 21st Street, New York, NY 10010

Copyright 2018 by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Gerber, Larry. Title: Cited! identifying credible information online / Larry Gerber. Description: New York : Rosen Central, 2018. | Series: Digital and information literacy | Includes glossary and index. | Audience: Grades 5-8. Identifiers: ISBN 9781499439052 (library bound) | ISBN 9781499439038 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781499439045 (6 pack) Subjects: LCSH: Internet researchJuvenile literature. | Internet searching-juvenile literature. | Computer network resources EvaluationJuvenile literature. | Electronic information resource literacy-juvenile literature. Classification: LCC ZA4228.G47 2018 | DDC 001.4'202854678 dc23

Manufactured in the United States of America

With so much of human knowledge available at one's fingertips at any time, it is difficult to conceive of a time when research was conducted without the internet to rely on. More than twenty years ago, certain facts or data that now take seconds to uncover sometimes took hours of digging through physical books and records. Any decent researcher would have to plan for a trip to one or more libraries to find books and archived magazines, newspapers, and academic journals.

Help from librarians was even more crucial in finding the right sources. But doing the research itself meant hours of flipping pages and taking notes, mostly by hand before word processing software became the way most students did it.

Even more time-consuming and difficult was the search for audio and video recordingsfor example, of historical events. Physical copies on old formats like VHS tape, or even reels of film, had to be located and then obtained, or at least tracked down to request access to them.

Another convenient process we take for granted these days was finding photographs, or at least usable copies of them. Photos and audiovisual sources were both stored in many different places, and whole teams of professionals were needed to catalogue and track their use. That was true if good records existed to begin with. In many cases, even historical documents were stored in random and forgotten archives. Some disappeared or degraded with age.

Getting informationwhether in print or online, in the library or elsewhereis part of the hard work, and joy, of research.

What a difference a few decades makes. The internet has unlocked a world of research possibilities for casual aficionados, and more important, for serious researchers of all ages. The great news is that information is ever more plentiful and easy to access. Digital records of many important sources, images, documents, films, and more exist in many different networks and are trackable across millions of websites.

But information does not equal fact, nor does it equal "the truth." Anyone familiar with current events can tell that there are many conflicting ideas and ideologies online, and it is sometimes very difficult to figure out what agendas information sources suggest. Even reputable news organizations get their stories wrong. Politicians, academics, journalists, celebrities, and others all have their own opinions, agendas, and interests.

Finding facts and credible information and data in an ocean of written and visual content online is something all good researchers need to master. How do researchers distinguish between propaganda and news, and determine what information is relevant to research topics they are interested in? What are the right ways to cite sources? Let's get started in figuring out how to cite credible information online.

T he sources we use in research include ones across a whole variety of media. These sources provide us with information. A piece of information that we know to be true is a fact. But what do we really mean by media and sources?

The word "media" is merely the plural of medium. Television is one medium. Books are another. The internet may be considered an entirely different medium, even if sometimes it includes and delivers several media together (including words, video, podcasts, and more). In this sense, it can even be considered a type of super-media. Newspapers and film are two more types. Even a handwritten note or a smartphone are considered media, since they both deliver information in some way.

Sources are the starting points of information. Sources can be things, but they are usually people or groups of people. When a friend phones to say the party starts at 8:00 p.m., the medium is the phone; the source is the friend.

If we want to find the current US population, the medium is the internet; the source is the US Census Bureau.

While many print-based media, like newspapers, are well established and seem credible, researchers must remember that all sources must be properly vetted.

The most important quality of a source is credibility. When we say a source is credible, we mean that we can believe the source's information.

To judge credibility, we need to be clear about the difference between sources and media. If someone asks, "Where did the information come from?" they're asking for the source. Saying "I saw it on TV" isn't an answer. Television is a medium, not a source.

The distinction is important because we use the internet to tap into a wide variety of media to find sources. It helps to keep in mind the difference between web pages and other material we find on the web. Web pages are designed and written specifically for internet users. But we can also use the internet to access pages of magazines, newspapers, books, video, and audio files.

Credible sources in all media usually tell us their sources of information so we can check them for accuracy.

There are two main types of source: primary and secondary. Primary sources give us firsthand information. People involved in an accident are primary sources of information about the accident. So are people who saw the accident. Primary sources are often in the best position to know what happened.

Autobiographiesbooks written by people about themselvesare primary sources. So are diaries. Experts can be primary sources. People like doctors and scientists who have studied something for years can give us firsthand information about it. Some primary sources aren't people. Photos, paintings, coins, statues, pottery, and other artifacts can tell researchers a lot about the times when they were created.