HOW DO WE IDENTIFY INFORMATION QUALITY?
In this day and age, we have access
to a wide range of information in a variety of formats. When searching for
information, on the Internet, about the broad topic of inquiry learning and its
related terms, as well as the more narrow topics of history and secondary
education, a plethora of information was available.
In today’s society, the Internet has established
itself as the key infrastructure for information administration, exchange, and
publication; with search engines being the most commonly used tool to retrieve
that information. Knight & Burn (2000) put forward that “the rapid growth of the Internet as
an environment for information exchange and the lack of enforceable standards
regarding the information it contains has lead to numerous information quality
problems. A major issue is the inability of Search Engine technology to wade
through the vast expanse of questionable content and return "quality"
results to a user's query.”
A
study, conducted by Knight & Burns (2005), compared a number of information
quality frameworks revealing that common elements included accuracy,
consistency, timeliness, completeness, accessibility, objectiveness and
relevancy. The results are summarised in the table below.
Dimension
|
Number
of Times
|
Definitions
|
Accuracy
|
8
|
Extent to which data are correct,
reliable and certified free from error.
|
Consistency
|
7
|
Extent to which information is
presented in the same format and compatible with previous data.
|
Security
|
7
|
Extent to which access to information
is restricted appropriately to maintain its security.
|
Timeliness
|
7
|
Extent to which the information is
sufficiently up-to-date for the task at hand.
|
Completeness
|
5
|
Extent to which information is not
missing and is of sufficient breadth and depth for the task.
|
Concise
|
5
|
Extent to which information is
compactly represented without being overwhelming.
|
Reliability
|
5
|
Extent to which information is
correct and reliable.
|
Accessibility
|
4
|
Extent to which information is
available, or easily and quickly retrievable.
|
Availability
|
4
|
Extent to which is physically
accessible.
|
Objectivity
|
4
|
Extent to which information is
unbiased, unprejudiced and impartial.
|
Relevancy
|
4
|
Extent to which information is
applicable and helpful for the task at hand.
|
Useability
|
4
|
Extent to which information is clear
and easily used.
|
Understandability
|
5
|
Extent to which data are clear
without ambiguity and easily comprehended.
|
Amount of data
|
3
|
Extent to which the quantity or
volume of available data is appropriate.
|
Believability
|
3
|
Extent to which information is
regarded as true and credible.
|
Navigation
|
3
|
Extent to data are easily found and
linked to.
|
Reputation
|
3
|
Extent to which information is highly
regarded in terms of source or content.
|
Useful
|
3
|
Extent to which information is
applicable and helpful to the task at hand.
|
Efficiency
|
3
|
Extent to which data are able to
quickly meet the information needs for the task at hand.
|
Value Added
|
3
|
Extent to which information is
beneficial, provides advantages from its use.
|
It is advocated, by Rose &
Levison (2004), that a user's perception of what is accurate, current,
important or useful is not only determined by what information they are
searching for, but by why they seek it. The reality is that two information
searchers can use the same query to convey different meanings or search goal
and therefore their value judgement would be different.
When determining whether a source was
suitable for my search, I used criteria such as availability,
accessibility, purpose, readability, authority, credibility, accuracy, currency
and authenticity. I used this value judgement when seeking information from scholarly, professional
and practical sources.
Another tool I like to utilise when
evaluating or analysing information is ‘The CRAAP Test’. The acronym stands for
currency, relevance, authority, accuracy and purpose. It presents questions to
assist you in determining the quality of the information. The following link provides further detail about the test: http://www.csuchico.edu/lins/handouts/eval_websites.pdf. An application of
information analysis, using the CRAAP test, can viewed at the attached link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhwB4zQD4XA
REFERENCES
Knight, S & Burn, J 2005, 'Developing a Framework
for Assessing Information Quality on the World Wide Web ', Informing Science
Journal, Volume 8, pp. 159-172. Accessed: http://inform.nu/Articles/Vol8/v8p159-172Knig.pdf
Rose, D. E.
& Levinson, D. 2004. Understanding user goals in web search. Proceedings of
the 13th international conference on World Wide Web, 2004.
'Evaluating Information - Applying the CRAAP test', Meriam
Library California State University Chico, 2010, Accessed: 5th September
2013, Source: from: http://www.csuchico.edu/lins/handouts/eval_websites.pdf
'The C.R.A.P. Test in action: Websites', Portland
State University Library, 2012, Accessed: 5th September 2013, Source: from:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhwB4zQD4XA
Currency (or timeliness) is vital when evaluating web resources however you have referred to Knight & Burns twice in this post once from a year 2000 reference and once from a 2005 reference. Search engines and websites have evolved from 2000 or 2005 so it would have been good to see you referring to more up-to-date resources such as the 2013 references to the CRAP test.
ReplyDeleteIn various places within your blog posts you have referred to the internet being a new method for research as opposed to traditional methods of research, however it is important to remember that for year 9 students the internet has always been available and they would have used it at home and school throughout their education.
I acknowledge your comment about the Year 9's, but research shows that not all students have access to a computer or the internet, particularly at home. We conducted a survey within our region and the results were quite interesting.
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