LOCATING SCHOLARLY INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET - Research Paper Example

LOCATING SCHOLARLY INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET Locating Scholarly Information on the Internet Recent years have seen internet integration in people’s lives seemingly becoming an indispensable source of information. Increased reliance on internet as a source of information has been fueled greatly by ease of access and dissemination of information thereby increasing convenience. However, it is this same easy access that prompts questions regarding credibility of information on the internet. Credibility is a multifaceted concept weighing information on the scales of expertise and trustworthiness hence constituting believability.

With the question of credibility lingering in mind, it is important to explore some of the possible criteria that can be used to qualify internet information as credible.Information credibility is heavily dependent a number of factors such as currency and citation presence among others. Credible information should be up to date thereby reflecting relevance and conformity with the changing times. Current information concurs with issues happening in the modern world. Research on different subjects is always being carried out implying that some of the earlier conclusions may be disputed.

This is especially with technological advancements thereby creating greater room for improvements. For example, information on diseases is prone to change since as time advances there is likelihood of new discoveries. This implies that relying on relatively old sources may give information with omissions of advancements made. As such, conclusions drawn from such information may be deemed incomplete hence cannot be considered credible.Secondly, presence of source citations symbolizes information credibility since it shows that the topic in play has been researched upon.

However, it is also important to check citations used to ensure that they are from trustworthy sources. In relation to citations, sources being used should also use credible references. This implies that use of information sources is seemingly interdependent. Additionally, information on sources should correspond to information on external trustworthy sources and conclusions. For example, internet users should ensure that a source corresponds to known facts about a given subject. Therefore, citation presence may be used to determine information credibility.

Internet users can determine information credibility by concentrating on the website’s outlook. Scholarly sites have a consistent page design that is attractive yet maintaining professionalism. This implies that there is no irrelevant information on scholarly sources such as information not related to the subject matter. This is important in ensuring easy navigation and information access within the website. Therefore, websites with high levels of irrelevant information and missing a professional look should not be relied upon for credible information.

Additionally, reduced indulgence in advertising also signifies credible sources since the primary role of scholarly sites is to inform and educate rather than commercial gain (Metzger, 2007, p.5). Instead of advertisements, credible websites should have sponsorships from reputable organizations such as education institutions also shows credibility of information hosted in a particular site. Moreover, websites with credible information in most cases have editorial reviews from trustworthy boards with some showing evidence such as a peer review notification.

As such websites with advertisements and lacking editorial reviews are likely to host unreliable information.Knowledge of aspects indicating credible sources of information is crucial in site selection. For example, in relation to human service, selection of such websites as human services research institute website and national conference of state legislature’s website may be used to generate credible information. This is because these websites are linked to reputable organizations among other factors.

Human services researchers carry great significance in the social science field since their research assesses people’s needs and resources in their respective environments. This is important in eliminating people’s needs by concentrating on the available resources. Additionally, human service researchers carry out analysis and evaluation on social work services thereby determining effectiveness of different strategies used to address people’s needs. Moreover, this evaluation is essential in determining relative costs, advantages, and disadvantages of various social work services.

This information is useful especially in coming up with improvement plans for various social work services. This implies that human services researchers hold a crucial position in improving people’s wellbeing.However, there are numerous challenges accompanying implementation of human services. In carrying out human services there is the challenge of setting boundaries with the people being assisted. As such, there might may an integration of personal life with the work being carried out. This is especially challenging when dealing with situations that require experience sharing.

Additionally, there is the challenge of conforming to new environments in the course of human service. For example, there might be cultural differences thereby making it difficult to adjust to new areas. Settling in new areas may be more challenging especially if the new culture has many variations. As a result an individual may experience a culture shock thereby reducing performance levels (Miller, Van Esterik, P., and Van Esterik, J., 2010, p.45). However, it is important for people carrying out human service to avoid being judgmental and be open minded.

This makes it easier to settle and adjust to new environments. Moreover, human services may at times take effect over a long period of time hence requires patience. Patience may be challenging to some people and projects with gradual effects may be disappointing. Nevertheless, these challenges can be overcome in a bid to advance the great work and effect of human services.Conclusively, information credibility is of utmost importance hence it is important to ensure use of reliable sources in projects.

However, increased internet coverage and use has made it difficult to determine credible sources with increasingly many sites touching on all topics. Credible information is in most cases current to ensure conformity with the changing times. Additionally, credible information is marked by presence of reliable citations since this shows correspondence with external trustworthy sources. Scholarly sources should have a professional outlook as well as advertisement absence. This implies that scholarly sources with credible information are precise and direct to the subject matter.

ReferencesMetzger, M. (2007). Making Sense of Credibility on the Web: Models for Evaluating Online Information and Recommendations for Future Research. Journal of the American society for information science and technology, 58(13):2078–2091.Miller, B., Van Esterik, P. & Van Esterik, J. (2010). Cultural Anthropology (4th Canadian ed.). Toronto: Pearson Canada.