Evaluating Web Sources with the Library Fairy
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Students at St. Kate's learn about evaluating web sources with the beloved Library Fairy.
Tags: information literacy academic libraries
Added: 5 years ago
From: stkatesrefdesk
Views: 7,905
[scene opens with two female students sitting down in the St. Catherine University Library]
STUDENT 1: So, how's your research going?
STUDENT 2: It's really great! I found some great books using CLICnet, and I found articles using the databases ... I even found some webpages using Google.
[a male librarian (wearing cardboard fairy wings and carrying a wand) enters the scene]
LIBRARY FAIRY: Did I hear someone say Google?
STUDENT 2: Library Fairy, what're you doing this time? I think we know how to do research now.
STUDENT 1: Uh huh!
LIBRARY FAIRY: The internet can be a great place to find information for your topic, but you need to be sure to evaluate everything you find there.
["Evaluate everything you find on the Internet" appears on screen]
LIBRARY FAIRY: Show me which website you found.
STUDENT 2: Well, I have one website here that talks about capital punishment.
[she hands him a printout, and he quickly looks it over]
LIBRARY FAIRY: This website has a date of 2001 ... That's really old!
["Currency. Is there a date? Copyright? Last updated date?" appears on screen]
LIBRARY FAIRY: You should always check for currency.
STUDENT 1: Well, what about this website? It's from 2007!
LIBRARY FAIRY: Ah!
[she hands him her own printout, and he quickly looks it over]
LIBRARY FAIRY: But ...
[he taps the paper with his wand]
LIBRARY FAIRY: This website says capital punishment is legal at the College of Saint Catherine ... That's a lie!
["Accuracy. Can you verify the info? Is the info cited? Is it well-written?" appears on screen]
LIBRARY FAIRY: You always need to check for accuracy on any website.
STUDENT 2: Well, here's a really good website on capital punishment. It's from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
[she hands him another printout, as "Bureau of Justice Statistics, www dot ojp dot usdoj dot gov slash bjs" appears on screen]
LIBRARY FAIRY: Yes, the Bureau of Justic Statistics is a trusted government source for information.
STUDENT 2: Yeah!
["Authority. Who is the author? Who created the site? Is there contact info?" appears on screen]
LIBRARY FAIRY: Check your sources to see if there's an authority behind them, or to see who it is that created the site.
STUDENT: Okay, well, what about this one? I found this one from a website about the death penalty.
[she hands him another printout, and he quickly looks over it]
LIBRARY FAIRY: This info is from a website called "Kill 'Em All" dot com!
["www dot killthemall dot com" appears on screen]
LIBRARY FAIRY: This is a very biased website!
["Bias. Does the website have a stated purpose? Is it hosted by a biased organization? Is there advertising?" appears on screen]
LIBRARY FAIRY: You should always check websites for bias.
[one of the students shakes her head]
STUDENT 2: I guess we still have a lot to learn ...
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From stkate.edu:
Learning how to evaluate good sources of information will help you long after you graduate from college. Learn more by checking out these other websites or by talking to a librarian (call 651-690-6652 for help).
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