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Title:

A Guide to Finding Quality Information on the Internet - selection and evaluation strategies

Review:

The growing size and importance of the Internet in our daily lives brings with it growing problems. How do we find the information we need, and how can we be sure we can trust the information that we find? Searching skills are covered by many writers, most of whom mention evaluating only as a sub-topic. This book brings the crucial skill of evaluation up to its proper position in the list of skills required by effective information professionals.

This book approaches the process of evaluation from several directions. An introductory chapter explains the background to the topic, followed by a chapter which explains thoroughly how effective searching maximises the retrieval of quality information. As the author, Alison Cooke, takes the reader through various styles of searching - index, directory, gateway and metasearch - she highlights the potential problems with each one both in terms of information retrieval and evaluation of the resources retrieved.

At the end of the chapter on searching, the author uses the first of many checklists. It is these checklists that give the book real usability by the non-academic searcher. Providing a simple list of features, issues or questions enables the novice user to extend skills and awareness, whilst reminding the expert of key areas of concern.

The third chapter covers assessing the quality of an information source. Coverage, authority, accuracy, currency, accessibility, presentation, ease of use and overall quality are all examined with an accompanying checklist. As well as providing an aide-memoire, the checklists offer an opportunity for the reader to conduct almost a dialogue with the book. Looking at the checklist and answering the questions allows the opportunity to test the hypotheses offered by the author. Are they exhaustive? Can they be answered at all? Is there a 'correct' answer? The answer is almost certainly no in most cases - rather, they provided the starting point for developing a critical approach to everything found on the Internet.

The fourth and final chapter looks at evaluating particular types of sources. These include organisational, personal and subject-based Web sites as well as FTP, Telnet, Email and Newsgroup resources. Again a checklist for each item provides not only a reminder of the method, but also a reminder that different sources and media require different evaluative methods.

Extensive references and an annotated bibliography both reveal the academic underpinning of the book - it is the topic of the author's PhD research - and provide the basis for further use of the book as a teaching and training support tool - whether self-teaching, or for others. Exhaustively researched and clearly presented, the author has provided an accessible guide to one of the essential skills of the information professional - the ability to find, assess and select information sources in a methodical and reliable manner. This book should find its way on to the bookshelf of all who intend to use the Internet as a credible information source in the course of their work or study.

Purchase options:

• £26.96 UK Internet Book Shop
• $65.00 amazon.com

Free Pint Reviewer:

Mark Kerr is centre manager of London ASPECT, a DTI-funded Local Support Centre based at South Bank University giving advice, support and training to small and medium sized businesses as they seek to compete in the new electronic trading environment. He develops and delivers training courses on Internet topics for a wide range of organisations, and has written reviews, articles and a book, How to Promote Your Web Site Effectively. Further details can be found at http://www.sbu.ac.uk/aspect/ and http://www.sbu.ac.uk/training/.