FCCJLIS2004: Introduction to Internet Research

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Project Course Project General Instructions Evaluation Checklist Sample Project General Instructions The course project for Introduction to Internet Research is the creation of an annotated bibliography citing and describing five of the best Internet resources on a specified topic. You should use all of the search tools and evaluation criteria you have learned about in this course. For the date that the Course Project is due please check the Course Schedule. E-=mail your Course Project as an attachment or cut and paste it into your e-mail and send it to your instructor, Dr. Judith J. Johnson, at jjohnson@fccj.org. Please be sure your name and the title of the assignment is included in your e-mail. You may choose your own topic, but it must be approved by the instructor. Choose a topic of interest. Be careful not to choose a topic that is too broad or too narrow. (See Lesson 3, Research Strategies, for help on narrowing or broadening a topic.) Find five Internet resources which provide the most authoritative information about your topic. Include Web pages and USENET postings (if appropriate). You may also include a resource retrieved from a Gopher, FTP or Telnet site. Use the checklist below to evaluate all resources retrieved. Describe each of the five resources you have chosen, making sure you address EACH issue on the checklist for each of the five resources. (Review Lesson 6, Evaluating Internet Resources, for help in evaluating your resources.) Back to Top Evaluation Checklist Resource Evaluation Checklist 1.  What is the title and URL of the resource? 2.  Type of Site o government  o organization  o commercial  o educational  3.  Type of resource  o Is it a personal home page? o Is it a Gopher site? (probably outdated)  o Is it a government report? o Is it a newsgroup posting? o Is it clearly opinion or fact? o Is it an advertisement? 4.  Does it have the features that you need such as illustrations, graphics, glossaries, maps? 5.  Source o Who is the information source (organization or author)?  o Is the site part of a larger web site (i.e. a university or organizational page)? o Can you tell if the author, organization or group has the knowledge/expertise to present information on this topic? 6.  Bias, Objectivity o How credible is the information?  o Does the information seem reliable?  o Is there any indication where the information came from?  o Does it appear that the organization or author could have a biased point of view? If so, is the bias clearly stated?  7.  Currency o How current is the information?  o What is the date of the information or when was the site last updated? o Is the information too old or too new for your research needs? 8.  Consensus o How does the site information compare with other sites, print sources, etc.? o Does the information agree or disagree with an accepted point of view? Cite each resource using the MLA citation format (See Lesson 7 ). Pay close attention to the proper placement of punctuation and underlining. The date at the end of each citation is the last time YOU accessed the site you are discussing. The MLA web page on documenting web sources (http://www.mla.org/) has examples of citations for different types of materials. You will lose points if your material is not cited properly. Use the examples below as a general guideline for completing your project. There are examples of documents from organizations, commercial, educational, and government sites. LOOK CAREFULLY AT THE CITATION FORMAT FOR EACH. Back to Top Sample Project Several sample MLA citations with annotations are listed below. The citation format follows examples from the MLA web site. Topic: The history of the Dust Bowl during the depression. "Dust Bowl." The History Channel.Com. 1991. History Channel.      12 July 2000. <http://historychannel.com/ontv/index.html>.  A commercial site focusing on historical information. Links to other sites related to the topic are given and may include graphics. The source of the information is given at the bottom of the page. This site appears to present a balanced unbiased view of historical events, and is updated many times a day. WWW-VL: History: United States, 1930-1940. Comp. Lynn      Nelson. U of Kansas. 12 July 2000.       <http://history.cc.ukans.edu/history/VL/USA/ERAS/20TH/1930s.html>.  An educational site organized by the Department of History at the University of Kansas. It focuses on U.S. history and has links to information on the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. This part of the site is organized into time periods for easy access, and has pulled together material from the World Wide Web Virtual Library. The links will take you to sites that may include photos as well as text. The page itself is not dated, but currency in historical sites is not as important. The variety of sites linked to provides balanced coverage. "Surviving the Dust Bowl." The American Experience. 1999. PBS Online.     11 July 2000. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/amex/dustbowl/>. PBS is an organization which often produces highly acclaimed television documentaries. This link provides in-depth information on the topic and includes information on the film, a timeline, maps, important people and a teacher's guide. The page is dated 1999. It appears unbiased. "Voices from the Dust Bowl" American Memory. Oct. 1998. Library of        Congress. 10 July 2000.       <http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/afctshtml/tshome.html>.  The information at this site was collected by a government organization. It presents a historical event from a variety of viewpoints as a record of the past. Material includes songs, interviews and photographs. The page is dated 10-19-98. When you have completed your project, remember to take the final exam! Copyright © 1997-2000 Florida Community College Learning Resources Standing Committee Internet Course Task Force Last revised August 7, 2000 by the Internet Course Revision Committee Updated for LSCC August 7, 2000