How to be critical...

First of all, I want to say that this is a very interesting subject because it is a way for me, and for the other people that use internet as me, to question ourselves which type of sites we use and how we use them!! Generally, I visit always the same sites, which are mainly the more famous and useful like Hotmail, Yahoo or Google or sites whose I’m sure of what they are. But I have to say that the most important experience that I made with the means of research Internet was for my thesis one year ago. In that occasion, I needed certain sources and I remember that I always looked for the author of the text, for who published the material and also I was concentrated on the fact that the site was clear and with a friendly layout; that is because I think that the first impression is important also with a text, a book or a site. And that was all.

Thank to site, which sarah suggested us, I've understood that there can be a lot of way to distinguish and appreciate a good site.

The University of Essex focused on the critical use of the Internet; in particular it analysed the use of referencing, the plagiarism and the authorship. For me, this last one subject is the most important; authorship refers to the production and ownership of ideas and intellectual material, such as books, articles, images… That is to say that everybody has his own ideas and the possibility to express them writing with the favourite style. Then, in this site, there are some suggestions on how to avoid the plagiarism: learning how to note take in a effective way, learning how to create references, learning how to paraphrase. I found them very interesting because it happens very often that when you read a text, written by someone else, and you want to rewrite or summarise it, you use the same words or sentences…and this not correct.

The Purdue's Online Writing Lab is concerned with the process that comes before the you begin a research. For example, it says that is important to know exactly what we want to find out and what we are looking for. Then we must evaluate the credentials of the author and of the publisher of the material; the content of the material, his sources, references and citations, the accuracy with which the site was made and the accuracy of information. In the end, it is fundamental that the site reaches his aim and, at the same time, your aim!!!

In the third website, San Diego University, I found how important is to be always sceptical when we are surfing Internet and looking at a site…because everybody can publish everything on Internet and there is the possibility that we trust on false information.

See you soon...bye bye!!!