The Internet Detective

The Internet Detective

Illustration from the home page

This is a online tutorial that is designed to help students in higher and further education who want to use the Internet as a research tool for coursework and assignments. We suggest that trainees make use of this alongside their use of the TTRB in order to develop critical search skills. The resource has derived from an EU funded project and has been further developed as an INTUTE project using JISC funding 

The resource has the following objectives. By the end of the tutorial students will:

  1. understand that indiscriminate Internet research is not appropriate for university and college work;
  2. know why information quality is an issue on the Web, especially for academic research;
  3. have developed practical skills to help critically evaluate information found on the Internet;
  4. be aware of the issues of plagiarism, copyright and citation of Internet resources.

 

The tutorial is divided into the following sections:

  • What's the Story? – understand the advanced Internet skills required for university and college work.
  • The Good the Bad and the Ugly – see why information quality is an issue on the web, especially for academic research. Learn how to avoid time-wasting on Internet searching, scams and hoaxes.
  • Detective Work – get hints and tips that help to critically evaluate the information you find on the Internet.
  • Get On the Case – try out your Internet Detective skills with these practical exercises.
  • Keep the Right Side of the Law – be warned about plagiarism, copyright and citation.

 

What does the tutorial involve?

The tutorial takes around an hour to complete, but it can be done in more than one sitting.

Tutors and trainees will find this guide useful in developing a critical approach to searching for web based material when they want to search beyond the TTRB and before they ask the E-Librarian a question.

The Internet for Education Guide is also a useful follow up tutorial that is more focused on education.

Keywords

information handling, use of the internet, research on the web, research skills

Find out more

Related Articles

BEI Keywords

Library Research, Research Skills

Article published to :

Topic Area

Continuing Professional Development, Studying at M level

QTS Standards

Personal professional development (Q7-9), Q7 (a) Reflect on and improve their practice, S2.5 Use ICT effectively, both in teaching and to support wider role

Type of Resource

For Mentors, For Tutors, Websites

Authors :

INTUTE ILT

Other Contributor :

JISC

Article Id :

12779

Date Posted:

27/10/2006
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