Week 13

Q1) The internet is an amazing source of information, many resources can be gained from this one source as of all the millions of websites. Websites are updated and changed constantly as of the inevitability of changing information. The only problem with this is that not all sources of website are reliable as anyone who has access to the internet can display any information if they want to. “Credibility can be defined as believability” as stated by Fogg (2003. p. 122) in the reading. Credibility refers to how trustworthy and reliable the information in a website is. Credibility has four types of web credibilty;

 

• Presumed: based of general assumptions in the users mind e.g. a domain name that ends with ‘org’.
• Reputed: based of third party endorsements, reports or referrals e.g. a site that won award for PC Magazine
• Surface: based on simple inspection, first impressions e.g. a site that looks professionally designed
• Earned: based on first hand experience that extends over time e.g. a site that has consistently provided accurate information over the past year

There are some search engines out there that have credited sources such as Google Scholar, so you know when citing/referencing this text its reliable. As nearly everyone in Australia is using the internet and referencing it, however there are not to many free paying sites like Google Scholar to use and know it credible so we have to know how to tell what is a reliable source. 

The internet is used for many different and varying purposes such as lawyers, doctors and any of the public. The swine flu is a key example of this as everyone is trying to find the most up to date and informative information regarding this virus. I can even say that personally my own father has been looking it up on the internet as he saw on the television that there where tablets that you could take. 

Being a student it is probably one of the most important things to have credible sources as everything we look at and read has been made by someone or something and has a reference. With that being said we have to be careful on know what is a reliable source as I do not want to remember something I read about Picasso and then look at his paintings to then later down the track find out it was not really a true source just something someone made up. Using an unreliable source is not going to help you with an assignment or test as if the site is wrong and you re-literate what you read on that site then your answer will most probably be wrong. 

Q2) “Reliable sources are credible published materials with a reliable publication process; their authors are generally regarded as trustworthy or authoritative in relation to the subject at hand. How reliable a source is depends on context. As a rule of thumb, the more people engaged in checking facts, analyzing legal issues, and scrutinizing the writing, the more reliable the publication”. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Reliable_sources).When it comes to pop culture or sports it is easy to find an unlimited amount of sources, however, when it comes to researching journals and sources for something more advanced such as topics in your university course resources diminish.Wikipedia is not an acceptable reliable source for an assignment as it is a free encyclopedia so everything that has been added could be for anything from any source, also anyone can add what they like to the site such as there is Angelina Jolie the famous actress, but you could add something about you friend with the same name around the corner. This means you could be citing information about two different Jolie’s. Wikipedia is a good starting point though as when typing a topic into a search engine usually wikipedia is the first thing to be on the list. It helps with moving from one step to the next.

Q3)

Due to the fact that the legitimacy of a web address cannot be guaranteed the following issues could arise in people’s minds when browsing web addresses:

• Is the identity of the person/group/organisation behind the web address true and credible?
• Unscrupulous people may use the identity of credible organisations to set up web addresses for their own purposes. 
• Web addresses may be used by criminals and fraudsters to gain money or services from people.
• Web addresses could be used to promote a product or service which is not credible
• Web addresses can be used to promote false information that can be harmful to people e.g. a miracle cure for cancer which has not been test or scientifically proven. 

Activities 

A1) 

 

Presumed

This website is presumed as it is any domain that ends with “.org”. This website is credible due to it’s references, being owned by its own organization and the information should be up to date as it was last updated January 19th 2009.

Reputed

As site that won an award for PC Magazine. This website is the PC Magazine website  so it has all the awards written on it and references. 

 

Surface

Site that looks professionally done. Nike is a sporting company that distributes its merchandise all over the world, but this site is more reputable as it have been designed purely for Australia. 

Earned

Site that has provided accurate information over the year.  ABC cover all basis’s of the news from weather, sport, radio, television, health, science and international etc. All of these articles have reputable sources with the names and date of publication attached. 

A2)

Myself as a caricature

 

Road Sign

 

Assignment 2- Front Cover

References for Assignment 2

Assignment 3 is shown above in learning portfolios questions with power point assignment version I have handed in and the new version i had to do for the week 13 question.

 

 

 

References;

1.Fogg, B. J. (2003). Credibility and the World Wide Web. In Persuasive Technology: Using Computers  to Change What We Think and Do (pp. 122‐125). Amsterdam: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.  

  

2.Fogg, B. J. (2003). Credibility and the World Wide Web. In Persuasive Technology: Using Computers  to Change What We Think and Do (pp. 147‐181). Amsterdam: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.  

 

3. Weber, J. (January 19, 2009). Taming Opening Office.org. From; http://www.taming-openoffice-org.com/newsite/

 

4. … (2006). Nike. From; http://www.nike.com.au/g1/au/index.asp

 

5. … (n.d.). PC Mag.com. Ziff Davis Media. From; http://www.pcmag.com/

 

6. (different authors for different sections of articles e.g. sport, current news, global news..), (same as the date as of when the article was published.). ABC. From; http://www.abc.net.au/ 

 

7. … (July, 2007). Stanford Web Credibility Service. Stanford University, Stanford. From; http://credibility.stanford.edu/