Source Evaluation and Information Literacy: Findings from a Study on Science Websites
- UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Nora J. Bird, Associate Professor (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
- Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Abstract: An essential component of information literacy is the evaluation of information resources. Integral
to evaluation are users’ judgments about which web sources might prove reliable when
learning about a particular topic. Past website quality studies have used research methods that
involved asking participants to recall quality factors without the benefit of concurrent web
searching. Users in this study evaluated websites during live searching on the “open” web to
determine the quality factors they valued and how these relate to gaining knowledge about a
particular topic – genetically modified (GM) food. Two weeks later, participants answered
questions about the websites they visited and what they had learned via an email survey. The
participants then reported factors that allowed them to remember a website or the information
contained within it. The effect of the quality evaluation on memory for a particular resource is
examined and its relationship to information literacy is explored.
Source Evaluation and Information Literacy: Findings from a Study on Science Websites
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Created on 4/24/2012
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Communications in Information Literacy, 4(2), 170-191
- Language: English
- Date: 2010
- Keywords
- information literacy, evaluation, website quality studies, effect of quality evaluation on memory