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Misconceptions and Half-truths in Web-Usage
"… I need to find some articles from the Internet".
"...why pay for it when you can get it for free from the Web".
"… you can find anything on the Web."
"The placelessness of the Web leads to an ethereal randomness of thought. Gone are the pathways of logic and passion, the sense of the progress of an argument."
"In the Internet, information takes the place of judgement."
*Early use of WWW goes back to @1993.
*Publishing limited to those with specialized skills (ie HTML editing).
*Access limited by Hardware (web servers, capable PCs).
*Commercial and social value not yet fully realized.
Present Nature of the Web
"... a strand of optical fiber as this as a human
hair can transmit the equivalent of 90,000 volumes of an encyclopedia in
a single second."
*Ubiquitous - tremendous growth in its perceived social and informational value.
*Thoroughly commercialized.
*Page creation has been greatly simplified -anyone can build a convincing web page.
*More powerful PCs and servers greatly increase the capabilities of Web applications.
*Innovations for the future, introduction of high- speed Internet2 and Next Generation Internet (NGI).
*Print journals remain the principal forum of academic discourse.
*Publishers are accountable for the credibility and validity of the books and papers that they publish.
*Paper is a tangible medium.
*Books and periodicals are generally well-indexed.
*Print resources enjoy a retrospective depth that the Web cannot possibly attain.
*Paper is a static medium.
*Cost limitations are all too real.
*In many cases there ARE electronic equivalents.
*Access limitations.
*A single copy must be used sequentially.
Aspects of the Web as an
Academic Resource
(There are several points to consider when assessing
the Web as viable academic resource - balanced against print resources,
the Web has its merits as well as its drawbacks)
*Accuracy
*Provides an Open Forum
*Convenience
*Access
*Coverage
*Permanence
*Indexing
*Expedience
The Web as a Commercial
Vehicle
(The Web is, in good part, commercially-driven.
With this in mind, it's important to recognize certain drawbacks
and advantages)
*Truly valuable and credible information is not often found for free.
*Corporate websites will contain inherently biased information
*On the other hand, commercial websites can offer useful and current information (ie. Annual reports, directories, consumer information, etc.)
The Web as a Conveyance
(The Web has considerable value as a vehicle for
information dissemination)
*Access to commercial databases and utilities (ie. SearchBank, FirstSearch).
*Access to government publications, public information increasingly available as HTML documents.
*Software transfer increasingly common.
Pitfalls in Web Usage
("...they will receive a quantity of information
without proper instruction, and in consequence be thought of as very knowledgeable
when for the most part they are quite ignorant." -ChaitramRamphal)
*Can promote a false sense of authority.
*An invitation to plagiarize by cutting and pasting from sites that seem to have no clear owners.
*The Web can create a sense of complacency in research when (if only in part) their needs seem to be met by the Web (ie. SearchBank, FirstSearch).
