Regulation & Evaluation

"As professionals our role is to help patrons sort through the 'bad' sites as we do trying to find accurate information for any other subject. The question has to be asked too about whose job it is to help regulate this information. Grodzinsky and Tavani had the idea of 'Should Internet Service Providers be held morally accountable for objectionable behavior that occurs in their forums?' (Grodzinsky and Tavani 565)."

Information literacy includes the ability to evaluate web-based information according to criteria such as:

Accuracy - how reliable and free from error is the information?
- almost anyone can publish on the web
- many web resources are not verified by editors or fact-checkers
- web standards to ensure accuracy are still under development Authority - what are the author’s qualifications for writing on this subject?
- how reputable is the publisher or organization?
- it is sometimes difficult to determine authorship of a web resource
- the author’s qualifications/background are often not listed Objectivity - is the information presented with a minimum of bias?
- to what extent is the information trying to sway the opinion of the audience?
- the web often serves as a “virtual soapbox” for personal opinions
- the goals or aims of persons or groups presenting information are often not clearly stated Currency - is the content of the work up-to-date?
- is the publication date clearly labeled?
- dates are not always included on web pages, or the meaning of the date is unclear (is it the date the information was first written, first posted, or last updated?)
Coverage - what topics are included on the site?
- are the topics explored in detail or depth?
- web coverage may differ significantly from a similar print resource
- it is often hard to determine the extent of web coverage
Some additional concerns -
- many web pages blend information, entertainment and advertising (it can be difficult to tell the difference)
- some web sites are purely marketing tools
- many web pages are unstable and will disappear
- software requirements may limit access
- the danger of altering the content of web pages by unknown parties

(drawn from the work of Jan Alexander and Marsha Tate, Reference Librarians at Widener University, Chester, PA)

The goal of information literacy instruction is to help users become skillful evaluators of information, regardless of presentation format.

Legal parameters and standards based on the principle of intellectual freedom and privacy determine how information resources are regulated. However, information resource providers and library information professionals have an ethical obligation to model discriminating selection and use of information, and to teach information users to carefully evaluate and critically consider all types of information resources.

Grodzinsky, Frances S. and Tavani, Herman T. (2002). Ethical Reflections on Cyberstalking. In R. A. Spinello, and Tavani, H. T. (Eds.), Readings in CyberEthics (pp. 561-570). Boston, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.