Information Quality:

is the truth out there?

• The battle in the libraries
• The fears
• Opposition to Public Internet Access
• Support for Internet Access
• Filtering Software for Internet Protection
• Appropriate Use Policies (a kinder gentler restriction?)

• Information: the truth is out there
• Information retrieval; what's this search engine doing?
• The directory and the search engine
• Search Engine Intelligence

• It's got to be true! I found it on the computer!
• Information Quality Checklist

Defining Information Quality

• Objectivity: That the information is presented in a manner free from propaganda or disinformation.
• Completeness: That the information is a complete, not a partial picture of the subject
• Pluralism: That all aspects of the information are given and are not restricted to present a particular viewpoint, as in the case of censorship. [1]

• Gaining full and appropriate access to the available information
• Making full use of the retrieval mechanisms, which requires an understanding of how these mechanisms work.
• Evaluation of the quality of the information.

• Providing "safe" access; the major concern here is "appropriate" access for minors.
• Locating useful, quality information on the Web
• Evaluating the information to verify quality

The battle in the libraries

Public libraries receive the majority of their funding from the government. Whether the libraries are community libraries or school libraries (elementary, secondary or university), the public typically has access to the full range of resources and services. Most libraries attempt to select materials which they feel will best serve the needs of their specific community. This is seldom an arbitrary process, but rather follows specific articulated, written guidelines for collection development. However, within any single community, special interest groups may exist. Some of these special interest groups feel that their personal values are (or should be) the values and standards of the entire community. These groups may assert that the library should reflect those values. A common rallying cry, is, "My tax dollars aren't going to fund this sort of thing!"

The government has promised to wire every classroom in America, presumably through a series of Web Days, aided by additional public funding and corporate sponsorship. This move has been applauded by scientists, educators and information specialists. Yet, at the same time, the communities which will be served by this connection are bombarded by a series of negative and sensational stories about the Internet. The media has featured stories about cyberpornography, electronic stalking and cult religions. In response, parents within these communities have become fearful about how Internet access will affect their children and their community itself.

The Fears

"There's an awful lot of porn online. In an 18-month study, the team surveyed 917,410 sexually explicit pictures, descriptions, short stories and film clips. On those Usenet newsgroups where digitized images are stored, 83.5 percent of the pictures were pornographic." or "It is not just naked women. Perhaps because hard-core sex pictures are so widely available elsewhere, the adult BBS market seems to be driven largely by a demand for images that can't be found in the average magazine rack: pedophilia (nude photos of children), hebephilia (youths) and what the researchers call paraphilia--a grab bag of "deviant" material that includes images of bondage, sadomasochism, urination, defecation, and sex acts with a barnyard full of animals. "[4]

This paragraph in the Time article, coming from a respected American news magazine, sounded the alarm to pro-child/ pro-family advocates:

"This is the flip side of Vice President Al Gore's vision of an information superhighway linking every school and library in the land. When the kids are plugged in, will they be exposed to the seamiest sides of human sexuality? Will they fall prey to child molesters hanging out in electronic chat rooms?" [4]

The Carnegie Mellon study on which Time's article was based was soon shown to be based on dubious information compiled by an undergraduate. As often happens in journalism, the retractions were not as sensational as the original articles. Three weeks later, Time ran a short rebuttal admitting the lack of credibility for many of the original article's claims stating: "serious questions have been raised regarding the study's methodology, the ethics by which its data were gathered and even its true authorship." [5]

Nevertheless, the fears were planted in the minds of many. From this and similar articles, the Internet gained a label as a obscene and potentially dangerous place for youth. People are still responding to that perception. Many are expressing their concerns to the officials in power. A few, rather vocal, groups have organized to oppose library Internet access.

The opposition to public Internet access

In an article entitled, Parents pushing for libraries free of Internet porn, The Christian Science Monitor explored the viewpoints of groups opposed to Internet access in public institutions such as libraries. These groups believe the public libraries, particularly those libraries which are choosing to offer Internet access, are eroding suitable community values. It should be noted that the majority of these opposition groups do not have web sites, as they feel that the Internet itself is an indecent media. The majority of their campaigns are carried out through print, radio or other traditional media. 

Family Friendly Libraries is based in suburban Virginia, outside Washington DC, Karen Jo Gounard founded the organization and leads the effort to "clean-up libraries"[6]. "It's a powerful culture out there, and some kids are more vulnerable than others," says Karen Jo Gounaud, founder of the Family Friendly Libraries group in Springfield, Va. "At some point it's up to the individual to make choices, but it makes it harder for everyone if libraries are not cooperating with the communities they serve." [7]

Bob Anderson, founder of Oklahomans for Children and Families in Oklahoma City says, "If parents suspect the local library or another Web-provider is providing their children with cyberporn, Anderson says, they can "turn it over to law enforcement."[8]

Last year, Anderson used this hard-nosed method to persuade the University of Oklahoma to dump adult material found on the campus Web provider. He showed the president pictures of bestiality and child pornography that had come from the campus computer, noted that they may be illegal images, and said he intended to tell the police, district attorney, and FBI." Christian Science Monitor [8]

Support for Internet Access to the Public

"Before I could search on the web, for many questions, I either had to call Regional Reference or send the patron to certain academic libraries, large public libraries, such as the Newark Public Library and the possibly the State Library in Trenton. We can now answer 95% of the questions we get at our reference desk... "Michael Charton Parsippany Public Library, Parsippany, New Jersey[9] 

Library censorship is nothing new. American history is filled with cases of communities demanding books and other materials be removed from the shelves. In the past, this has led to community meetings with heated discussions demanding the banning of books or other materials deemed 'obscene'. Generally, this furor has been over materials which at least one community member felt violated their standards. A list citing the books banned in the years 1990-92 [10] noted that the majority of banned books are children's books. The most commonly cited reasons for the banning are :racism, sexuality, and violence.

To support local libraries in creating access to materials, the ALA has created a "Library Bill of Rights". This Bill of Rights sets a national standard for American libraries created by the major library organization. This Bill of Rights serves as a role definition for libraries, their communities and the government. It performs much like the American Bill of Rights, in that it specifies how an ideal public library should function. The preamble states, "The American Library Association affirms that all libraries are forums for information and ideas." [11]It goes on to state the necessity for representing all viewpoints in the materials housed in the library and to oppose censorship of these materials.

In further interpreting the Bill of Rights for minors, the ALA has underwritten the need full Internet access for all patrons, including youth. In this official statement on censorship and youth, the ALA puts the burden of restricting a child on their family, rather than on an institution, "Librarians and governing bodies should maintain that parents - and only parents - have the right and the responsibility to restrict the access of their children - and only their children - to library resources. Parents or legal guardians who do not want their children to have access to certain library services, materials or facilities, should so advise their children. Librarians and governing bodies cannot assume the role of parents or the functions of parental authority in the private relationship between parent and child."[12]...taken from Free Access to Libraries for Minors, An Interpretation of the LIBRARY BILL OF RIGHTS

The ALA further articulates these rights and responsibilities in a document addressing electronic information, "Freedom of expression is an inalienable human right and the foundation for self-government. Freedom of expression encompasses the freedom of speech and the corollary right to receive information. These rights extend to minors as well as adults. Libraries and librarians exist to facilitate the exercise of these rights by selecting, producing, providing access to, identifying, retrieving, organizing, providing instruction in the use of, and preserving recorded expression regardless of the format or technology."[13]...from Access to Electronic Information, Services, and Networks: an Interpretation of the LIBRARY BILL OF RIGHTS

Filtering Software for Internet Protection

Some cities, such as Boston, are experimenting with using blocking or filtering software, which will filter out "offensive materials." The limitation of this approach is that, at this time, for the entire country, there is no single standard of what constitutes "offensive".

In February, Boston's Mayor Thomas Menino ordered the city to install CyberPatrol software to filter out "adult-only" information on library computers, school computers, and other public access computers owned by the city. [14] There was a substantial protest from freedom of information activists because of the limitations created by this software. When questioned about which sites are specifically filtered, Cyberpatrol made public a list of guidelines for content which would be blocked.

CONTENT blocked by CyberPatrol

• "Violence/Profanity (graphics or text)
• Partial Nudity
• Full Nudity
• Sexual Acts (graphic or text)
• Gross Depictions (graphic or text)
• Intolerance (graphics or text)
• Satanic/Cult (graphics or text)
• Drugs/Drug Culture (graphics or text)
• Militant/Extremist (graphics or text)
• Sex Education (graphics or text)
• Questionable/Illegal & Gambling (graphics or text)
• Alcohol & Tobacco (graphics or text) [15]

It would be difficult to attain any sort of community consensus on many the items contained in the CyberNot list. Reflecting on our local community of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, it seems inevitable that CyberNot's censorship might run contrary to this community's standards, which have mandated sex education in the schools, or run contrary to the state standards, where tobacco and cigarettes are a prime income industry. For a student trying to do research, CyberPatrol software could prove to be too restrictive. Debate on the use of CyberPatrol in Boston has been strong and vocal. CyberPatrol provides an easy solution to the question of restricting Internet access of inappropriate materials. But many feel that the price of lost freedom and lost information is high.

Filtering the Internet in K-12 Schools and Libraries is a site consisting of web pages prepared by librarians for librarians about filtering software. There are pages discussing filtering technology, available programs, the limitations and usefulness of filtering, to libraries and alternatives to filtering. At present, one of the strongest alternatives to software filtering is the "Appropriate Use Policy." 

Appropriate Use Policies (a kinder, gentler restriction?)

"First, the policy should explain what the Internet is, how students and teachers will be accessing it, how it will be used in the classroom, and explain the responsibilities of the students while online. Stress how important it is to have the Internet in the classroom, but also make parents aware of the potential risks of obtaining "objectionable" material.

Then, make it clear that use of the Net is a privilege and not a right, and outline the penalities and repercussions of violating the AUP. Some schools issue a warning letter to students and parents after the first violation; subsequent violations may be cause for access restrictions or suspensions. Next, consider including a short paragraph about Internet etiquette. (See page 12 of the November issue of Classroom Connect.) Be sure to explain online security issues, and that it's illegal to hack, or gain illegal entry into, other computers." [17]Classroom Connect Newsletter - Dec 1994 / Jan. 1995

At a minimum, an AUP must be a written, publicly available statement of official library or school policy. School districts may also add additional items to suit their special needs. Not everything can be covered in an AUP. Like most curriculum issues, it is suggested that the school district board need to have an overarching policy. An article in School Administrator reports advice given by Internet access guru Jamie McKenzie, "A sound board policy takes a position on access to potentially controversial information" and relates to current curriculum policies, outlining clear expectations for staff supervising student use, McKenzie says. Policies also should outline staff responsibilities and rights as employees use the Internet.

McKenzie suggests an effective school board policy governing student access to the Internet should cover the following:

• Contact with objectionable material;
• Contact with questionable material;
• Contact with questionable persons;
• Objectionable behavior;
• Objectionable material;
• Destructive behavior;
• Violation of privacy rights;
• Violation of access rights" [18]

Information: the truth is out there

Resource searching is usually done through Web search engines, such as Yahoo, Magellan or Matrix. However, most users are not aware of the great differences in the construction and intent of the various engines. Some are fully automated (robot); some are directories of personal favorites, constructed by humans; some are robot-human hybrids.

Currently there are millions of HTML pages posted on the Web, and the number of entries is multiplying every day. The untrustworthiness and mediocrity of information resources on the World Wide Web is a well recognized and often discussed dilemma. Problems in using the Internet for academic research are many. These problems are not unique to the Web, but rather are common issues of poor scholarship in any medium, but the ability to publish without a review process has increased the number of occurrences vastly. The most common problems are:

• WWW documents which are un-attributed, undated, and unannotated.
• Statistics may be listed without a resource, making them impossible to confirm
• Information about the author or publisher is either unavailable or incomplete.
• Documents may be freestanding, so that it is not clear how the information relates to other materials.
• Web has been called a place in which many resource catalogs seem to list a few original or substantial documents and data sets. (Web pages which are lists of links, rather than being an academic contribution in their own right.

---

Information Retrieval - what's this search engine doing?

Recall: recall is defined as the number of relevant documents retrieved divided by the total number of relevant documents in the collection. For example, suppose there are 80 documents relevant to widgets in the collection. System X returns 60 documents, 40 of which are about widgets. Then X's recall is 40/80 = 50%. In an ideal world, recall is 100%. However, since this is trivial to achieve (by retrieving all of the documents), a system attempts to maximize both recall and precision simultaneously. [19]

Precision: precision is defined as the number of relevant documents retrieved divided by the total number of documents retrieved. For example, suppose there are 80 documents relevant to widgets in the collection. System X returns 60 documents, 40 of which are about widgets. Then X's precision is 40/60 = 67%. In an ideal world, precision is 100%. Since this is easy to achieve (by returning just one document), a system attempts to maximize both precision and recall simultaneously. [19]

Trying to accomplish a high recall rate on the Internet is difficult, due to the enormous volume of information which must be searched. Precision is virtually impossible to calculate for the Web, since it is impossible to determine the total number of relevant sets which could be retrieved. Using an information retrieval system within a fixed system (with a known limit of data sets), a good search engine should be able to return a high percentage score in both recall and precision, though it is less likely to be able to achieve both. Typically, one can have quick retrieval, or a high precision, but not both.

The computations contains one very subjective term: "relevant". Only the user will know fully what is relevant, and relevance can vary from one query to the next with the same user.

There is a constant competition to be the "best search engine". Multimedia Magazine runs an annual "Search Robot Test" to determine which is the best. "Best" is defined as "Effectiveness= Precision*Recall." All listed recall numbers between 80 - 100%, with precision ranging from 45-70%. [20] As was discussed earlier, these numbers appear to be a bit arbitrary, since it is impossible to truly quantify the the number of relevant documents on the Web.

Relevance can be improved through feedback. Relevance Feedback is a process of refining the results of a retrieval through asking a further query. The user indicates the most relevant documents from those returned. The system then attempts to find terms common to that subset, and adds them to the old query. More documents are returned using the revised query. On some Web search engines, this can be done by clicking the hyperlink, "find similar documents". 

The Directory and the Search Engine:

The Directory is what we usually think of as an Index. The index is the format most familiar to library users. The traditional card catalog is an index. Our textbooks and cookbooks and yearbooks have indexes. To create an index, an item is located, evaluated, categorized, and listed. There are a few indexes on the web created through human evaluation. The majority of these are smaller and are fairly subject specific. Yahoo, is the best known of the rated indexes. They claim to have a team of indexers who surf, record and index 1,500 sites daily. Since 1996, a large number of rated or reviewed indexes have appeared in the medical/health science field. Some are associated with a University or other academic institution, others are advertising efforts created by the drug companies.

Indexes typically start with a very broad subject heading, then narrow down. For example, to look at immunization schedules in Emory University's MedWeb, it would involve moving through these subheadings:

• keyword index
• pediatrics
• immunology
• childhood immunization schedules[21]

Of course, other services will claim that their index is larger. That's because some companies use misleading methods to count the number of URLs in their index." [23]

The Search Engine uses computer-based devices (called 'spiders' or 'robots') to automatically log on to Web pages and index their contents. When one page is complete, these robots follow the links to new Web pages and repeat the process. Typically, robots work in either of two ways:

• Depth first-- these examine a Web page and follow each link in as much depth as possible then follow the links to other external Web pages. Lycos is the best example of this.
• Breadth first-- these collectors start at the top level of a Web page and follow all of the top level links to other Web pages. [24]

Search Engine Intelligence

Boolean Logic: Named after the nineteenth-century mathematician George Boole, Boolean logic is a form of algebra in which all values are reduced to either TRUE or FALSE. Boolean logic is especially important for computer science because it fits nicely with the binary numbering system, in which each bit has a value of either 1 or 0. Another way of looking at it is that each bit has a value of either TRUE or FALSE. [25]

With the Boolean operators, AND, OR and NOT, it is possible to combine terms and establish a relationship between the terms. Traditional information retrieval algorithms have focused on the use of Boolean logic. This system functions extremely effectively when used within a limited data set, indexed using a controlled vocabulary. MEDLINE is an example of this type of system. MeSH rigidly specifies the vocabulary and combination patterns. All articles are then indexed according to this standard.

The rapid growth of electronic information and retrieval systems has pushed researchers to develop a number of new, more flexible searching systems. These are all part of the larger field of artificial intelligence, which is the process of creating software which will allow a computer to think like a person.

Fuzzy logic is the most basic of these newer search systems. In traditional Boolean systems, each term is either part of a set or not. Fuzzy logic is a logical pattern which recognizes more than just true and false values. With fuzzy logic, there is a rendering of true and false probabilities. Fuzzy logic is readily observable in the use of a spell-checker program, which will make probabilistic projections in the form of a list of words to replace the misspelled one.

Artificial Intelligence is the construction of a system for information management which can think in the same way that a human does. Expert systems attempt to perform a task that would otherwise be performed by a human expert. Some expert systems are designed to take the place of human experts, while others are designed to assist them. These work by studying how human experts make decisions and then translating the rules into terms that a computer can comprehend and repeat.

Natural Language Processing is the process of training computers to understand natural human language. Rather than focusing on matching terms or forming logical sets, Natural Language Processing (NLP) involves using a set of concepts to sort out the interrelationships of words. The computer breaks apart the sentence into its semantic parts: nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc., and then it creates links. Since language can be ambiguous, vague, or metaphorical. NLP seeks to compute the relationships between words, giving each a correlate to the words around it. Put into a formula, the computer then makes assumptions based on its logic. [26]

Concept Based Searching is similar to natural language searching in that the software attempts to formulate a concept grasped from a conglomeration of terms with the query. This is related to the field of Thesaurus or Rich Aliasing., where a thesaurus is utilized to build upon a keyword. Connections are assumed between the query work and a keyword. Documents can then be retrieved using the keyword, even though that keyword may not have been present in the initial query.

Once Internet resources have been located,, the question becomes how to recognize quality information. The Internet is an unregulated information marketplace. Anyone can and does "publish" through the Internet. There are excellent scholarly resources available, but there are also sites which are naively inaccurate, paid advertising efforts or blatant propaganda. Most students and other library patrons are accustomed to having someone else validate their information for them. Now, with widespread use of the Web, it is becoming critical that all users learn how to evaluate information resources.

Evaluating Web Information

"It's got to be true! I found it on the computer!"

The Free Internet Encyclopedia publishes this caution: "We search for useful information and will attempt to avoid linking to a document that claims (for example) that Smirnoff is the capital of Russia, but among other things, this involves us knowing that Smirnoff is not the capital of Russia, an assumption which is true in this instance but which is a pretty dicey proposition in general. This means that you have to decide on the accuracy and appropriateness of any information you may access here for your own uses and purposes and the responsibility for such decisions is completely your own." [28]

Identifying information quality is an essential aspect of using the Internet for research. Librarians have developed rules for what constitutes "quality information" in a traditional resource. A commonly accepted text is by Richard E. Bopp and Linda C. Smith, Reference and Information Services. On page 297 of the second edition (1995, Libraries Unlimited, Englewood, Colorado)they list the following evaluation criteria for references materials:

• Format
• printed/ microform/ electronic/ physical make-up/ illustrations
• Scope
• purpose, coverage, currentness
• Relation to similar works
• uniqueness, spinoffs, new editions
• Authority
• authorship, publisher/sponsor, sources of information
• Treatment
• accuracy, objectivity, style/audience
• Arrangement
• sequencing, indexing
• Special features [29]

Information Quality Checklist

1. Scope:

• Is the information at an appropriate use level?
• What is the purpose of the site?
• Does it promote a position?
• Is the information primary or secondary in nature?
• Do the pages include links to support the ideas central to the paper?
• Is the site inward-focused or outward-directed in its linking? (disinformation is often self-referencing)

Audience is a key factor in evaluating site information. information needs to be at a level that the user can understand and assimilate it. Information which is too complex or too simple is often useless.

• What audience level is the site intended for?
• Is it research application oriented, informational, or entertaining?

• Is the author a known expert in the area?
• Author credentials may be evaluated by traditional means, such as checking directories, publications, Who's Who, etc.
• Additionally, Internet credentials can be evaluated through personal home page information or institution directory information. Using programs like "finger" or "Whois" can also help to track down electronically an author’s credentials.

• Was the page linked to another page which you are familiar with? Can you establish a clear relationship or connection between the two sites?
• Does the Web site give biographical information, including the author’s position, institutional affiliation and address?
• Is an e-mail address included, can you connect the individual to an institution using this?

As commercial activity has increased on the Web, marketing has also increased. Many "information" sites are thinly disguised marketing or public relations efforts created by interested corporations. Identifying the publishing body can go a long ways toward understanding the bias (if any) present in the creation of the site.

• Is there an organization which has taken credit for the site which you are viewing?
• Are there headers, footers, or background "watermark" which could establish a relationship to an institution?
• Can you contact the Web master of the site?
• What can you determine about the site by reading its URL? What is the suffix ending (.edu, .ca, .gov, .com, .net, etc.)
• Backtracking is a technique for uncovering the location of the base organization. This entails eliminating files and/or folders one at a time proceeding from going from right to left. After eliminating each folder, try to connect to the site. This can take you back to the sponsoring organization of a site and also uncover related sites and folders.
• Once you have identified the publisher of the site, the next determination is whether they have an inherent bias (religious affiliation, political party, industry lobby, right-to-life, etc.)

Currency is of vital importance in science, medicine and similar fields. It might not be so important in languages or some of the other social sciences.

• When was the site created?
• When was it last updated?
• Does it include the date when the information was gathered?
• Is there a date of copyright?
• Or a date that the research was conducted?
• Is there a publication date from a conference or another journal?
• How up to date are the links?

• For a research document, there should be an explanation of the data which was gathered and an explanation of the research methods used to gather and interpret it.
• The methodology outlined should be appropriate to the topic and should allow the study to be duplicated for verification.
• If the work involves a new concept or procedure, there should be a discussion of the elements of this technique or theory and a discussion of the appropriateness and limitations of this approach.
• Other sources which the document relies upon are documented in a bibliography of acceptable format and/ or connected by hyperlinks
• Sources used in the preparation of the research or study are documented.
• Any other related information can be identified and verified.
• A bibliography is included or available.

• Does the site require proprietary software or passwords to access the information?
• Are either of these easy to obtain?
• Is there a cost?
• Is the site user friendly?
• Is the information presented in a logical, ordered manner?
• Is there a clear site map or hypermedia index?
• Do graphics and hypermedia add to the or detract from the quality of the site?
• If multi-media is used is it appropriate for the site?

Kathy Schrock has put together three age appropriate reference information evaluation sheets for elementary and secondary students. The evaluation sheet for elementary students is a simple, but in-depth yes/no evaluation test. Some typical questions are:

• "If you go to another page, is there a way to get back to the first page?YES?NO
• Is there a date that tells you when the page was made? YES / NO
• Do the photographs look real? YES / NO / NO PHOTOGRAPHS
• Does the author of the page say some things you disagree with? YES / NO"[30]

To return to the original questions: How can we gain quality information form the Internet? Can the Internet be safe for kids?? Is the electronic information acquired in an unregulated environment equal to traditional information resources which have undergone extensive review in the publication process?
As the Internet grows and users become more familiar and comfortable with the technology, it will become second nature to question and evaluate sources.  As with any new venture, users must learn the recognize new and unique risks and learn to safely navigate around them. Parents will have to learn new safety rules to teach their children. Students will have to learn to "question authority" and examine their own assumptions. Using the Internet  will require analytical and evaluative skills, rather than the simpler information location skills which students are accustomed to using. But along with these limitations, comes a new wealth of information and accessibility.

References and Links

Links to Appropriate Use Policies:

Critiquing Acceptable Use Policies; Dave Kinnaman :a well referenced and linked overview of the hows and whys of AUPs. Also has sections on evaluating individual AUPs

Virginia Department of Education; a very extensive six part handbook, including samples and forms an templates for creating AUPs;

Dec 1994/Jan 1995 issue of the Classroom Connect Newsletter a succinct overview of the advantages of using an AUP

The School Administrator: April 1996; An article for administrators on the issues of Internet dangers and the advantages of an AUP

K-12 Acceptable Use Policies by Nancy Willard; an independent in-depth overview of policy issues and implications, including potential legal implications; also has sample policy "templates". 

Links to Information Retrieval:

Links to Internet Information Evaluation:

Evaluating Quality on the Net by Hope N. Tillman, Director of Libraries, Babson College, Babson Park, MA This is an "evolving paper", which is an information quality issue endemic on the Internet. The information was first presented in September of 1995; then revised and re-presented in February of 1996. This version was presented in February of 1997.

Critical Evaluation Surveys Kathy Schrock has designed web evaluation tools for students at the elementary, middle and high school levels.

Teaching Critical Evaluation Skills for World Wide Web Resources, Widener University; Links to Web evaluation checklists in several disciplines, examples of excellence, bibliography of Web evaluation materials. Useful for Information, such as the business information, which is not purely scholarly.

Information Quality; WWW Virtual Library A good index to papers on information quality issues, but some resources are a bit dated (from 1995)

Anyone can (and probably will) put up anything on the Internet; a list of reference evaluation questions adapted from the book, The Savvy Student's Guide to Library Research by Judy Pask, Roberta Kramer, Scott Mandernack.

Evaluating World Wide Web Information; An evaluation checklist form designed for library users. Perdue University Libraries

Bibliography

1. Floridi, Luciano; Brave Net World: the Internet as a disinformation superhighway; The Electronic Library; Vol 14, No.5; October 1996; also available in previous versions at: http://www.uni.net/interacta/pub005.htm
2. Parents pushing for libraries free of Internet porn; 1997 Nando.net Copyright © 1997 The Christian Science Monitor; http://www.nando.net/newsroom/ntn/info/021997/info3_18124.html
3. OCAF" Oklahomans for Children and Families; OCAF White Paper on Internet Pornography "The Agincourt Project" An Action Proposal for the Elimination of Illegal Pornography and Child Pornography from the Internet; 1995; http://www.xnet.com/~jjy/current/ocaf.html
4. Elmer-DeWitt, Philip; senior editor for technology;On a Screen Near You: Cyberporn; TIME Domestic July 3, 1995 Volume 146, No. 1; http://pathfinder.com/@@fGUIJAcAt7F@sPeC/time/magazine/domestic/1995/950703/950703.cover.html
5. Elmer-DeWitt, Philip; senior editor for technology; Fire Storm on the Computer Nets: A new study of cyberporn, reported in a TIME cover story, sparks controversy; TIME Magazine; July 24, 1995 Volume 146, No. 4; http://pathfinder.com/@@8yOM8QcA2rH3Y76i/time/magazine/domestic/1995/950724/950724.internet.html
6. "Family Friendly" Libraries: Extending the Culture War to Your Local Library; People For the American Way, 1997; Last Modified 7/30/96; http://www.pfaw.org/ed_lib.htm
7. Cisler, Steve ; right wing plan to infiltrate libraries; ListServ Posting to list ALAOIF; Mon, 16 Oct 1995; http://www.qrd.org/qrd/religion/anti/plan.to.infiltrate.public.libraries
8. Parents pushing for libraries free of Internet porn; 1997 Nando.net Copyright © 1997 The Christian Science Monitor;
9. Michael Charton; Wow! This Librarian and These Librarians are Magic! The World Wide Web and Its Use in a Medium Sized Public Library; University of California, Santa Barbara Library web page, 1996; http://www.library.ucsb.edu/untangle/charton.html
10. The Books Most Frequently Banned in the 1990's;Banned Books on-line, Carnegie Mellon University; School of Computer Science; http://www.cs.cmu.edu/People/spok/most-banned.html ;undated
11. American Library Association; ALA Intellectual Freedom Statements) LIBRARY BILL OF RIGHTS; Adopted June 18, 1948; amended February 2, 1961, and January 23, 1980, by the ALA Council. Posted: 1994-04-15 . gopher://ala1.ala.org:70/00/alagophx/40415007.document
12. American Library Association; FREE ACCESS TO LIBRARIES FOR MINORS An Interpretation of the LIBRARY BILL OF RIGHTS; Adopted June 30, 1972; amended July 1, 1981; July 3, 1991, by the ALA Council. Posted: 24 Apr 1994;ftp://ftp.eff.org/pub/CAF/library/access.minors.ala
13. American Library Association, Office for Information Technology Policy; Access to Electronic Information, Services, and Networks: an Interpretation of the LIBRARY BILL OF RIGHTS; Adopted by the ALA Council, January 24, 1996; http://www.ala.org/oitp/ebillrits.html
14. Garfinkel, Simson; Internet Censor 1.0; From The Boston Globe, January 20,1997 http://world.std.com/~kip/garfinkl.html
15. Cyber Patrol CyberNOT List Criteria; 5/9/96; http://www.microsys.com/cyber/cp_list.htm
16. LION, Librarian's Information On-line Network; Filtering the Internet in K-12 Schools and Libraries 4/25/97; http://www.libertynet.org/~lion/filtering.html
17. Foreman,David R.; connect@classroom.net (Classroom Connect) Subject: K-12 Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ); 24 Nov 1995; http://siec.k12.in.us/aup/aup-faq.txt
18. Acceptable Use Policies Defining what's allowed online, and what's not;Classroom Connect Newsletter - Dec 1994 / Jan. 1995; http://www.wentworth.com/classroom/aup.htm
19. Weiss, Scott; Glossary for Information Retrieval; Computer Science Department; Johns Hopkins Univeraity; http://www.cs.jhu.edu/~weiss/glossary.html ; 1997
20. Hoogeveen, Mark; "Search Robot Test '97: Excite is the Best"; http://www.euronet.nl/users/martynho/search97.htm ; 1997
21. MedWeb; Biomedical Web Resources; Emory University Health Sciences Library; http://www.gen.emory.edu/MEDWEB/medweb.html, 1997
22. Excite,Inc, "Information Retrieval Technology and Intellegent Concept Extraction Searching;http://www.excite.com/ice/tech.html ; 1996
23. Excite, Inc. "The New Excite Search"; http://www.excite.com/ice/new.html ;1996
24. Lager,Mark, "Spinning a Web Search"; http://www.library.ucsb.edu/untangle/lager.html ; 1996
25. PC Webopaedia; Sandy Bay Software; http://www.sandybay.com/pc-web/ ; 1997
26. Lager,Mark, "Spinning a Web Search"; http://www.library.ucsb.edu/untangle/lager.html ; 1996
27. Mankato MN Home Page;copyright1995-96 http://lme.mankato.msus.edu/mankato/mankato.html
28. Free Internet Encyclopedia; Version 1.0; http://clever.net/cam/encyclopedia.html ; 1997
29. Bopp, Richard E. and Linda C. Smith; Reference and Information Services, an Introduction, pp 298-300.Englewood, Colorado; Libraries Unlimited; 1995
30. Schrock, Kathy: Critical Evaluation Surveys; 1997 (last updated 9/18/96) http://www.capecod.net/schrockguide/eval.htm

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