INFORMATION UPDATE August, 2004 Number 53 Welcome to INFORMATION UPDATE, the free monthly newsletter for people who need to know. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ IN THIS ISSUE ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ => Do It Yourself - Searching the Internet for Quality Information => Did You Know? - Vetting Has Value => Notes, News and Announcements => Subscribe/Unsubscribe Information ************************************************************ DO IT YOURSELF - Searching the Internet for Quality Information ************************************************************ Regular readers of Information Update will know that we must always evaluate the results of an Internet search for quality and accuracy. Now we have some numbers that tell us how important that evaluation is. A recently published research study quantifies the situation for one specific search type. Article Title: "Searching the Internet for Information on Prostate Cancer Screening: An Assessment of Quality" Journal: Urology, volume 64, number 1, 2004, pp. 112-116 This study analyzed the quality of information found on web sites retrieved by using a wide variety of search engines and 11 different search terms or phrases. The study compared the quality of information with the search engine that retrieved it in order to assess whether general, meta- search, or medical search engines gave better results. Findings: Of 6690 websites reviewed, 84 unique sites were identified as containing relevant information on prostate cancer screening. That's 1.26% !!! These 84 sites where then analyzed for quality using a tool adapted to assessing the quality of online health information. (The tool is called DISCERN.) Of the 84 sites evaluated, less than half (44%) were found to have moderate to good quality DISCERN scores. The rest scored a poor quality rating. Most of us are not going to evalute web sites using the DISCERN tool. We are taught to look for authorship, attribution, disclosure, and currency in evaluating the quality of the information before us. In the case of these 84 web sites, 17% provided authorship information, 15% included attribution, 32% disclosure, and 72% displayed currency. So, what are we do to in our search for quality information? Know your source. To the best of our abilities we must try to discern who posted the information, where it comes from, and how current it is. View each source with a measure of skeptism until you are satisfied you understand something about its credibility (or lack thereof.) For more on reli- ablity of information, see the Did You Know? article that follows. Regarding the findings related to search engines, it was concluded that "specialized medical search engines were no more likely to retrieve relevant, high-quality information than general or meta-search engines." ************************************************************ DID YOU KNOW? - Vetting Has Value ************************************************************ What is "vetting" anyway? According to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, it means subjecting to a thorough examination or evaluation. Manuscripts submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publica- tion are thoroughly vetted by experts in the field. Among other things, the experts look at research methods, analysis, and conclusions for validity and accuracy. Many databases are vetted in order to assure a measure of validity of the information contained therein. Researchers perceive value in searching authoritative sources, where the information has been critiqued and evaluated before inclusion. The databases available through LexisNexis, Dialog, DataStar, and Factiva are examples of products containing vetted sources. This process goes one step further when the researcher evaluates and selects information to be contained in a final report or to be delivered in response to a question or research project. In this case, the researcher knows clearly and in some detail what the client or user needs. Informa- tion collected in a search can be vetted by the researcher with the client's needs in mind, assuring further validity and accuracy of information. So, the combination of professional searchers using authoritative sources assures validity and usefulness not readily available through general searches of the open Internet. You do not need to open accounts with dozens of commercial database providers to obtain access to these valuable sources of vetted information. For your research needs, contract with the experts at Shamel Information Services. To discuss your research needs, contact Shamel Information Services. 858-673-4673 http://www.shamelinfo.com ************************************************************* Notes, News, and Announcements ************************************************************* Computing Dates in History: August 7, 1944 - The Harvard Mark I computer (aka IBM Auto- matic Sequence Controlled Calculator) is dedicated at Harvard University. August 1962 - marks the first recorded description of social interaction through networking. The Galactic Network of globally interconnected computers was described in a series of memos by J.C.R. Licklider of MIT. August 6, 1995 - Netscape goes public with the 3rd largest NASDQ IPO ever. Now Available - "Introduction to Online Market and Industry Research," edited by Cynthia L. Shamel. Texera Publishers, 2004. This 450 page volume offers detailed information on how to conduct cost effective online market and industry research. It has been adopted as a required text for graduate level online searching classes and recommended by professional business researchers. For more information go to ************************************************************* Shamel Information Services Web Site ************************************************************* The Shamel Information Services web site at http://shamelinfo.com contains Information Update archives. Just click on "Newsletters" and check for any issues you might have missed. Cynthia L. Shamel, editor Shamel Information Services Telephone: 858-673-4673 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Subscriptions to INFORMATION UPDATE are free. You may subscribe or unsubscribe by sending a message to: e-mail InfoUpdate at shamelinfo.com with SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line. Copyright 2004 Shamel Information Services Please feel free to forward this issue to colleagues, in its entirety. Other uses without permission may violate copyright. Online archives at http://shamelinfo.com/newsletter.htm ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^