Last year I attended a course where we translated texts on EU. The web pages we used to find information had to be reliable and relevant. Anyway, our professor advised us certain sites where we could find what we needed and we didn't have to check on their relevance. However, sometimes the necessary information couldn't be found there and we had to search by our own. And here you had to be careful. I usually used Google or Najdi.si (a Slovenian search engine) depending on what I was looking for. Then I also restricted the query to specific domains, like .gov, .eu etc., so I was sure that they were not written by unprofessionals. I think that in the above case including a domain into the search was enough to guarantee its success, but unfortunately there are many cases when domains alone can't help us and we have to valuate a certain site by our own.
I usually look the layout first; I proceed only if it's well-organized and not flashy. The layout in fact can communicate a lot! If it's well-done it's probably because somebody put much time and effort into creating it; usually institutions with a high level of authority like governmental agencies pay much attention to how they present information on thier websites. Then I also look at who the author is and if he or she is an expert of the field. Another criterion is the date the article was published. If the page is updated regularly that's a good sign. Lastly, I also make sure there is a list of resources or bibliography for further reading, which is a clear sign that the article in question was written carefully and that the author based himself on other resources.
However, after reading the tips for choosing appropriate and reliable sources that Sarah suggested, I realized that I should pay attention to many other features of a Web source and that there are many tools that can help me sift. I will point out just one of them: Internet Directory of Published Writers. I believe it's very useful, because it helps to find information about the author and enables you to decide whether a certain article was written by a professional or not.
5 commenti:
Hi, Eva. You wrote an interesting post. I appreciated the description of the course on traslation you did. I think that experience can be one of the most important things in evaluating online sources. As you do, I learnt to restrict the query to specific domains and I give a look at the layout, as well. This last one is not a rule, actually, but it can help. Moreover, updates and author are important features.
We both focused on the Internet Directory of Published Writers, which is nice. Anyway, I read your comment on my post and now I have some doubts. The number of authors grows constantly and maybe we need to wait untill they become "trustworthy" to find them on the site. This is the only explanation that comes to my mind in this moment. Anyway, let's say that the idea of this website is great for checking realibility of a specific document.
See you!
Federico.
Hey girl!
Your post was interesting..above all,as Fred said, because it is based on ur own experience..
You are right..I didn't think about layout as a criteria..but it can actually be useful to get a general idea of the text u are reading..we agreed on the fact that we should always pay attention on the url of the websites we are exploring isn't it?!
good..see u in class!!
byeee
Hi Eva! As Federico and Vale said, I like your post because it is based on your personal experience! It is only through experience that one can learn how to search on the Net! My first researches where a complete disaster!!! As you usually do, I pay attention to the layout of the site; if it is well-organized, it is a sign that someone spent time and effort on it, so it is probably something reliable! I appreciate very much the Internet Directory of Published Writers: it is a nice idea for checking reliability of an author!
Dear Eva,
You’re right in pointing out the importance of being careful with online sources. The Web provides a lot of sites and it’s difficult to decide if they’re reliable. When we have to write an essay or a thesis, it’s fundamental to have websites or books written by professionals or experts. If we want to start off on the right foot we should know how to check the sources we find.
You said that it’s very important to check the domain of the websites. I agree with you! (I wrote the same thing on my post too. ;-)) Anyway, checking the domain isn’t enough, as you pointed out. We have to pay attention to many other things. For example, you mentioned layout. You're right! If a website is well-structured you can find interesting information easily. Moreover, we can get the impression that the author made effort to create the website.
I visited the site you advised, and I think it’s very interesting and useful because you can get more information about a writer or a publisher. Federico wrote that the number of authors is growing more and more...I hope that the site is always controlled. Thank you for writing the link to this site. I’d like to ask you a question. Do you prefer doing research on the Web or in the library? I think that we can take advantage of both these opportunities. Do you agree with me?
See you!
Giovanna
Hi Eva,
commenting your post I'd like to focus maily on one point: the layout.
As you wrote the layout and the way information is presented, are very important criteria which help you understand the kind of site you're visiting. Me too, I spot differences among websites just by looking at the way they are built. Sometimes it happens that you find websites which much sophisticated layouts however information is not carefully organized, so that it becomes difficult to read through the pages or getting to what you are looking for: have you ever lost yourself in a websites? Me, a lot of times!
See you,
Alice
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