Evaluating What You Find on the Internet by Betsey Carter, Daniel Library, The Citadel. As the Internet grows exponentially in size, popularity, accessibility, and usefulness, students are turning to it more and more for information to support research. The Internet has become a popular extension of more traditional sources of library research. Two issues regarding use of the Internet as a research tool are of great concern to all faculty. Evaluation and documentation of Internet sources are issues that have not been suitably addressed in academia.
Students seem to be either unaware or uninformed of correct procedures.
Just as students require instruction to effectively use catalogs, periodical indexes, and other library resources, both print and online, they need to be taught to utilize Internet resources effectively and appropriately. Traditionally, scholarly research has been presented in peer reviewed journals and books. Internet sites provide a new dimension to transmitting information, i.e., information can be made known more quickly and be more widely distributed. However, results and conclusions may not be scrutinized as closely nor substantiated by follow-up research. Internet sites may also exist for reasons other than transmitting data and results, such as a particular agenda by the site author or group.