Not long ago, I checked one of my regular LISTSERVs and read a few of the hundred messages that had accumulated. Only reading the newspaper depresses me more than reading the messages list. I immediately sat down at my computer and wrote the beginning of a flaming message. I had second thoughts about sending the letter to the list, but here is the basic text:
"Dear LISTSERV Member:
I have to believe that most of the people who ask and answer queries
here have
not received any formal training. Before wasting our time with questions
that
have been handled many times in print publications, I suggest that you
try the
art of reading.
Have you ever questioned the authority of the people who are answering your questions? How do you judge which answers are correct? Or partly correct? Or down-right wrong?"
The Internet today has sex appeal. Everyone has discovered electronic information. With the Internet, the medium has again become the message. Unrealistic ideas about the veracity of information from a computer are magnified when people think of information on the Internet.
Internet data
The Internet is being used as a research tool to find information.
However, we
have lost the distinction between information and INFORMATION. It was fun
and
informational to access CBS on the Web to get the latest scoop on the
NCAA's
March Madness. That, however, is very different from finding
authoritative
data.
For example, you may access U.S. government data directly from government sites or from many secondary sites. You have to find the right site to get the latest information. The CIA World Factbook is loaded on the Internet by many institutions. Some menus indicate which edition is loaded; some do not. You might get a 1991 edition or a 1994 edition, or you might think you are getting one edition and actually get another.
Consider all the issues surrounding data quality, such as data accuracy, data definitions and timeliness of the data. It has been difficult for commercial publishers and online services to understand and deal with these issues. How can we expect a myriad of Internet publishers to address such seemingly boring topics?
Internet research
"The Internet is killing research," said a library school faculty member
I
spoke with recently.
The Internet is being used as a research tool. All of our discussion lists contain messages from the graduate school student who is "doing a survey" and is eliciting responses via Internet. The Internet is replacing the 900 number not only as a surrogate for safe sex but also as a survey tool. You can send in your e-mail response to a local TV station to vote on the issue of the day. An example is whether you favor a property tax or sales tax reduction. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out what the results will be if the respondents are people with computers and modems at home! How does this skew basic survey concepts such as random samples, levels of confidence and replication?
Another typical research question goes like this: "I am working on a presentation on business information about Antarctica. I was hoping that if you had a favorite source you could let me know."
If you are paying to go to a conference to hear experts on a subject, do you want your experts to be doing their research on the Internet?
Another of my favorites was a request for reviewers for "The EVALUATIONS" series of book reviews which read:
"The EVALUATIONS series provides scholars with an opportunity to select and publish an extended review and evaluation of any book or article in their field or a related field. Interdisciplinary work is especially encouraged."
The request included a commercial e-mail address and a post office box mailing address. The list of instructions to contributors requested that they "send a $15 (generally tax-deductible) processing fee to the snail mail address. Make your check or money order payable to..."
How many good reviewers are going to send in $15 to get their book review published? What do you think the quality of the reviews in this series will be?
Applying traditional standards to the Internet
Those of us who are information providers have created and fostered
systems
where access to information was expensive, difficult and restrictive. We
learned to plan and execute perfect, precise, relevant searches. We
learned
database structures and field codes, and kept our documentation at our
side. We
charged our users thousands of dollars for what was often very little
information.
Who can blame our clients and colleagues and new online users for not understanding issues like quality, value and copyright on the Internet? They do not have the training and experience of a library professional.
Everyone needs to apply the same standards to Internet information that they apply to information from traditional providers. Information professionals must get back to their roots and use their skills as evaluators, organizers and managers of information.
Above all, think next time you ask or answer a LIST-SERV question or retrieve information from an Internet source. Consider what you are asking and what you expect to find. Judge the results by the same criteria you would use for any other information resource.
Ruth Pagell is director of the Center for Business Information in Woodruff Library.