How Credible is Information on the Web: Reflections on Misinformation and Disinformation

Keshavarz, Hamid How Credible is Information on the Web: Reflections on Misinformation and Disinformation. Infopreneurship Journal , 2014, vol. 1, n. 2, pp. 1-17. [Journal article (Paginated)]

[img]
Preview
 Text
How Credible is Information on the Web.pdf - Published version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial.
Download (191kB) | Preview

English abstract

This paper seeks to investigate credibility, misinformation and disinformation as concepts highly correlated to the quality of information sources so as to encourage users to bear them in mind when searching for information via the web. Issues as to how users can make distinction among web information sources when confronting questionable ones are discussed. Exploring within an extensive, but not comprehensive, body of works related to the main issues, the paper attempts to integrate them into a conceptual framework and even to find criteria by which web resources could be evaluated. Using some information skills like checklists, critical thinking and information literacy, users can considerably lessen challenges posed by searching for credible information from the web. Aside from novelty of the two concepts misinformation and disinformation in the information behavior literature, the paper provides a framework for the concepts explored and a list of proposed solutions by which credibility of web information could be assessed.

Item type: Journal article (Paginated)
Keywords: information, information use, disinformation, misinformation, web
Subjects: A. Theoretical and general aspects of libraries and information. > AB. Information theory and library theory.
B. Information use and sociology of information > BA. Use and impact of information.
Depositing user: mr mahmood khosrowjerdi
Date deposited: 11 Jul 2014 14:37
Last modified: 02 Oct 2014 12:32
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10760/23451

References

Abeles, P. and Morton, J. 1999. Avoiding Misinformation: reinstating target modality. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 52:581 – 592.

Banks, D. A. 2003. Misinformation as a starting point for critical thinking. Proceedings of Informing Science and Information Technology Education Joint Conference. Finland: Pori. http://proceedings.informingscience.org/IS2003Proceedings/docs/114Banks.pdf (accessed 16 August 2011)

Bauer, C. & Scharl, A. 2000. Quantitative evaluation of Website content and Structure. Internet Research: Electronic Networking Applications and Policy 10(1): 31-43.

Beck, S. E. 1997. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, or Why it's a Good Idea to Evaluate Web Sources. Institute for Technology-Assisted Learning. http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/eval.html (accessed 16 August 2011)

Brandt, D.S. 1996. Evaluating information on the Internet. Computers in Libraries 16:44–46.

Bruce, B.C. 2000. Credibility of the web: Why we need dialectical reading. Journal of Philosophy of Education 34(1):97–109.

Burbules, N. 2001. Paradoxes of the Web: The ethical dimensions of credibility. Library Trends 49(3): 441-453.

Burton, R. F. 2002. Misinformation, partial. knowledge and guessing in true/false tests. Medical Education, 36(9): 805-811.

Calvert, P.J. 1999. Web-based Misinformation in the context of higher education. Asian Libraries 8(3): 83-91.

Calvert, P.J. 2001. Scholarly misconduct and Misinformation on the World Wide Web .The Electronic Library, 19(4): 332-340.

Capurro, R. 2000. Ethical Challenges of the Information Society in the 21st Century. The International Information & Library Review 32(3/4): 257-276.

Capurro, R. 2003. Foundations of Information Science: Review and Perspectives. http://www.capurro.de/tampere91.htm (accessed 16 August 2011).

Capurro, R. 2006. Towards an Ontological Foundation of Information Ethics, Ethics and Information Technology 8(4): 175–186.

Carbo, T & Smith, M. 2008. Global information ethics: Intercultural perspectives on past and future research. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 59(7): 1111-1123.

Cartelli, A. 2003. Misinforming, misunderstanding, misconceptions: What informing science can do, Proceedings of Informing Science and Information Technology Education Joint Conference, Pori, Finland. pp. 1259-1273. http://proceedings.informingscience.org/IS2003Proceedings/docs/156Carte.pdf (accessed 16 August 2011).

Childs, S. 2005. Judging the quality of internet-based health information. Performance Measurement and Metrics 6(2):80-96.

Clewley, N., Chen, S. Y. & Liu, X. 2009. Evaluation of the credibility of internet shopping in the UK. Online Information Review, 33(4): 805-826.

Cody, D. E. 2006. Critical Thoughts on Critical Thinking. The Journal of Academic Librarianship 32(4): 403–407.

Covacio, S. 2003. Misinformation: Understanding the Evolution of Deception [Online] Available at: Proceedings of Informing Science and Information Technology Education Joint Conference, Pori, Finland. http://proceedings.informingscience.org/IS2003Proceedings/docs/089Covac.pdf (accessed 16 August 2011).

Doyle, T, & Hammond, J. L. 2006. Net cred: evaluating the internet as a research source. Reference services review 34(11): 56-70.

Elmborg, J. 2006. Critical Information Literacy: Implications for Instructional Practice. The Journal of Academic Librarianship 32(2):192–199.

Ernest, D. J., Level, A. V. & Culbertson, M. 2005. Information Seeking Behavior For Recreational Activities and its Implications for Libraries. Reference Services Review 33(1): 88-103.

Eysenbach, Gunther. 2008. Credibility of Health Information and Digital Media: New Perspectives and Implications for Youth. Digital Media, Youth, and Credibility. Edited by Miriam J. Metzger and Andrew J. Flanagin. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, pp. 123–154.

Fallis, D. 2004. On verifying the accuracy of information: philosophical perspectives. Library Trends 52(3): 463-487.

Fensel, D., Hendler, J.A., Lieberman, H. & Wahlster, W. (Eds.). 2005. Spinning the Semantic Web: bringing the World Wide Web to its full potential. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Fetzer, J.L. 2004. Disinformation: The use of false Information. Minds and Machines 14(2): 231-240.

Fink-Shamit, N. & Bar-Ilan, J. 2008. Information quality assessment on the Web- an expression of behaviour. Information Research 13(4), paper 357. http://InformationR.net/ir/13-4/paper357.html.

Fisher, J., Burstein, F., Lynch, K., Lazarenko, K. 2008. Usability + usefulness=trust: an exploratory study of Australian health websites. Internet Research 18 (5): 477-498.

Fitzgerald, M. A. 2004. Misinformation on the Internet: Applying evaluation skills to online Information, Emergency Librarian 24(3): 3-9.

Flanagin, Andrew J., & Miriam Metzger. 2008. Digital Media and Youth: Unparalleled Opportunity and Unprecedented Responsibility.Digital Media, Youth, and Credibility. Edited by Miriam J. Metzger & Andrew J. Flanagin. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 5–28.

Floridi, L. 1996. Brave.Net.World: The Internet as a Disinformation superhighway? The Electronic Library, 14(5): 509-514. http://www.philosophyofInformation.net/pdf/bnw.pdf (accessed 16 August 2011)

Floridi,L. 2004. Information. Encyclopedia of Science, Technology and Ethics (ESTE). [Online] available at: http://www.philosophyofInformation.net/pdf/este.pdf (accessed 16 August 2011)

Floridi, L. 2005. Semantic Conceptions of Information. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2005 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.) http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/Information-semantic (accessed 16 August 2011) .

Floridi, L. 2008. Foundations of information ethics. In Himma, K.E., & Tavani, H.T. (eds.), The Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics, pp. 3-23. Wiley.

Fritch, J. W., & Cromwell, R. L. 2001. Evaluating Internet resources: Identity, affiliation, and cognitive authority in a networked world, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 52(6): 499-507.

Gilster, P. 1997. Digital literacy. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Golbeck , C, Jennifer. 2008. Weaving a Web of Trust. Science 19: 1640-1641.

Gunter, B., Campbell, V., Touri, M. & Gibson, R. 2009. Blogs, news and credibility. Aslib Proceedings: New Information Perspectives 61(2): 185-204.

Healey, P.D. 1995. Untangling the web: the world-wide-web as a reference tool. Reference Quarterly 34(4):441-444.

Hong, T. 2006. The influence of structural and message features on Website credibility’, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 57(1):114-127.

Hsieh-Yee, I. 2001. Research on Web search behavior. Library and Information Science Research 23(2):167-185.

Huntington P, Nicholas D, Gunter B, Russell C, Withey R. & Polydoratou P. 2004. Consumer trust in health information on the web. Aslib Proceedings 56(6): 373–382.

Kapoun, J. 1998. Teaching undergrads WEB evaluation: A guide for library instruction, Cand RL News, 59(7). http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/crlnews/backissues1998/julyaugust6/teachingundergrads.htm (accessed 16 August 2011).

Kaufmann, W. 1977. The future of the humanities. New York: Reader’s Digest Press.

Kirk, E. 2001. Information and Its Counterfeits: Propaganda, Misinformation and Disinformation, [Online] Available at: http://www.library.jhu.edu/researchhelp/general/evaluating/counterfeit.html (accessed 16 August 2011).

Koohang,A; Weiss, E. 2003. Misinformation: Toward Creating a Prevention Framework, Proceedings of Informing Science and Information Technology Education Joint Conference, Pori, Finland. [Online] Available at: http://proceedings.informingscience.org/IS2003Proceedings/docs/025Kooha.pdf (accessed 16 August 2011).

Kuiper, E., Volman, M. & Terwel, J. 2008. Students' use of Web literacy skills and strategies: searching, reading and evaluating Web information, Information Research, VOL 13 No 1, paper351. Available at http://InformationR.net/ir/13-3/paper351.html.

Lankes, R. David. 2008a. Credibility on the internet: shifting from authority to reliability, Journal of Documentation VOL.64 NO.5, pp. 667-686.

Lankes, R. David. 2008b. Trusting the Internet: New Approaches to Credibility Tools. Digital Media, Youth, and Credibility. Edited by Miriam J. Metzger and Andrew J. Flanagin. The John D. and Catherine T. acArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, pp. 101–122.

Levine, P. 2005. The problem of online Misinformation and the role of schools, Studies in Media and Information Literacy Education, 5(1). [Online] Available at http://www.utpjournals.com/simile/issue17/levine.html (accessed 16 August 2011).

Liu, Z. 2004. Perceptions of credibility of scholarly information on the Web’, Information Processing and Management, VOL.40 NO.6, pp. 1027-1038.

Mansourian, Y. & Madden, A. 2007. Methodological approaches in Web search research, Electronic Library, Vol. 25. No.1, pp. 90-101.

Mattus, M. 2007. Finding Credible Information: A Challenge to Students Writing Academic Essays. Human IT VOL.9. NO.2, pp. 1–28.

Meola, M. 2004. Chucking the checklist: A contextual approach to teaching undergraduates Web-site evaluation, Libraries and the Academy, VOL.4 NO.3, pp. 331–344.

Metcalfe, B. 1995. From the Ether: Metcalfe's Law: A network becomes more valuable as it reaches more users, Infoworld, VOL.17 NO. 40.

Metzger, M. J. 2007. Making sense of credibility on the Web: Models for evaluating online information and recommendations for future research. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, VOL.58 NO.13, pp. 2078-2091.

Metzger, Miriam J., & Andrew J. Flanagin. 2008. Introduction. Digital Media, Youth, and Credibility. Edited by Miriam J. Metzger and Andrew J. Flanagin. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1–4.

Minkel, W. 1999. Delivering web reference services to young people, London: American Lirary Assiciation.

Mortan-Martin, J. & Anderson, C. D. 2000. Information and Misinformation Online: Recommendations for Facilitating Accurate Mental Health Information Retrieval and Evaluation, Cyberpsychology and Behavior, VOL.3 NO. 5, pp. 731-746.

Nicholas D, Huntington P, Williams P. & Dobrowolski T. 2003. Re-appraising Information seeking behaviour in a digital environment: bouncers, checkers, returnees and the like, Journal of Documentation VOL. 59 NO.6, pp. 24-39.

Pavlik, John V. 2012. Media Ethics in the Digital Age. Media Ethics Magazine, Vol. 24, No.1. http://www.mediaethicsmagazine.com/index.php/browsw-back-issues/144-fall-2012/39986... (accessed October 5, 2013).

Piper, P. 2001. Better read that again: Web hoaxes and Misinformation, Dialogue, 7(Jan). http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~dialogue/issue7.pdf (accessed 16 August 2011).

Rieh, Soo Young & Danielson, David. 2007. Credibility: A Multidisciplinary Framework, in Annual Review of Information Science and Technology, pp 307-364.

Rieh, Soo Young, & Brian Hilligoss. 2008. College Students’ Credibility Judgments in the Information-Seeking Process. Digital Media, Youth, and Credibility. Edited by Miriam J. Metzger and Andrew J. Flanagin. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, pp. 49–72.

Robins, D., & Holmes, J. 2008. Aesthetics and Credibility in Website Design, Information Processing and Management 44(1): 386-399.

Robins, D., Holmes, J. & Stansbury, M. 2010), Consumer health information on the web: The relationship of visual design and perceptions of credibility, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 61(1): 13-29.

Rothkopf, D.J. 1999, The Disinformation age, Foreign Policy 114:82–96.

Scheeder, D. 2005, Information Quality Standards: Navigating the Seas of Misinformation. In 71th IFLA general conference and council, Oslo. http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla71/papers/192e-Scheeder.pdf (accessed 16 August 2011).

Scholz-Crane, A. 1998. Evaluating the future: A preliminary study of the process of how undergraduate students evaluate Web sources, Reference Services Review, VOL 26 NO. 3/4, pp. 53–60.

Smith, A. G. 1997. Testing the surf: criteria for evaluating Internet Information resources, The Public-Access Computer Systems Review 8(3). Available at: http://info.lib.uh.edu/pr/v8/n3/smit8n3.html (accessed 16 August 2011).

Sorapure, M., Inglesby, P. & Yatchisin, G. 1998. Web Literacy: Challenges and opportunities for research in a new medium. Computers and Composition 15(3):409-424.

Sundin, O. 2008. Negotiations on information-seeking expertise: A study of web-based tutorials for information literacy. Journal of Documentation 64(1): 24-44.

Sundin, O. & Francke, H. 2009). In search of credibility: pupils' information practices in learning environments Information Research 14(4), paper 418. http://InformationR.net/ir/14-4/paper418.html (accessed 16 August 2011).

Tate, M.A. 2009. Web wisdom: How to evaluate and create information quality on the Web. 2nd ed. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Tudjman, M. & Mikelic, N. 2003. Information Science: Science about Information, Misinformation and Disinformation. In Proceedings of Informing Science and Information Technology Education Joint Conference, Pori, Finland. http://proceedings.informingscience.org/IS2003Proceedings/docs/204Tudjm.pdf (accessed 16 August 2011).

Vedder, A. 2001. Misinformation through the Internet: Epistemology and Ethics, In Anton Vedder (ed.). Ethics and the Internet, pp. 125-132. http://rechten.uvt.nl/vedder/archive/Docs/wrdreli.pdf (accessed 16 August 2011).

Walton, M. & Archer, A. 2004. The Web and information literacy: scaffolding the use of web sources in a project-based curriculum British Journal of Educational Technology, 35(2): 173–186.

Wang, H. & Lu, X. 2007. Cyberdating: Misinformation and (Dis)trust in Online Interaction, Informing Science Journal, VOL 10, pp. 1-15. http://inform.nu/Articles/Vol10/ISJv10p001-015Wang66.pdf (accessed 16 August 2011).

Warnick, B. 2004. Online ethos: Source credibility in an authorless environment, American Behavioral Scientist 48(2): 256-265.

Wathen, C.N. & Burkell, J. 2002. Believe it or not: factors influencing credibility on the Web. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 53(2): 134-144.

Weiler, A. 2004. Information-seeking behavior in generation y students: motivation, critical thinking, and learning theory, Journal of Academic Librarianship 31(1): 46-53.

Weingarten, Fred W. 2008. Credibility, Politics, and Public Policy. Digital Media, Youth, and Credibility. Edited by Miriam J. Metzger and Andrew J. Flanagin. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, pp. 181–202.

Yeh, S. & Li, Y. M. 2009. Building trust in m-commerce: contributions from quality and satisfaction. Online Information Review 33(6): 1066-1086.

Zhu, Y & Buchmann, A. 2003. Evaluating and Selecting Web Sources as External Information Resources of a Data Warehouse. www.dvs1.informatik.tu-darmstadt.de/ publications/pdf/wise02-zb.pdf (accessed 16 August 2011).


Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item
Contact us
Send email Sponsors
Sponsor: AIMS Sponsor: D&P Sponsor: UniNa CAB Get connected
Facebook Facebook Twitter Twitter Linkedin LinkedIn RSS RSS