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Written by Tony Phelps
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Thursday, 17 November 2005 |
Last week we considered some of the more advanced ways of searching for
information on the internet, including specialised search engines and
customised, complex queries to reduce the number of responses. But as
anyone with library training will tell you, finding information on the
internet doesn’t make it truthful, accurate or reliable.
The internet is an egalitarian world which makes it exceptionally easy
to “have a voice”. Anyone who can beg, buy or steal an internet
connection can publish their opinions, beliefs and theories at zero
extra cost. Thanks to search engines constantly trawling and indexing
the billions of webpages, such publications can be found right
alongside those of much more official pedigree.
Separating out the information that can be relied on from that which
cannot is an art and a science. Reference librarians can explain this
at length (if you know or meet one, ask them about it), but in essence
you really need to double-check who is providing the information and
what gives them the authority to say it is “right”.
So far as the internet is concerned, not only can people declare their
information to be fact, but they can also make it look official too. A
few logos, some fancy graphic design, and a webpage or website can look
equally (even much more) professional than that of the real authority.
A great example is the Australian Bureau of Statistics website – full
of facts and data that have been carefully gathered, processed and
interpreted according to the latest statistical methods, but presented
in an ugly and hard-to-use way. Someone needing to know the latest
official population of Melbourne might easily be tempted to use the
figure from a flashier, easier-to-read webpage. No big deal for school
homework, but a different matter for the city planners.
So just as with email, it pays to be skeptical about what you find on
the internet. Don’t believe it to be true unless there is good reason
to do so, preferably provided by verified and independent third parties
(ie. separate organisations or people). The information superhighway
has plenty of potholes and unlit stretches waiting to trip people up
and lure them aside – drive carefully, watch where you go, and wherever
you stop check your surroundings! |
