STUDY AND WRITING SKILLS
44
4.5
STUDY SKILLS
EVALUATING RESOURCES ON THE INTERNET
1
Work in small groups. People use the internet for
different purposes. Discuss the questions about how
you use the internet.
1
What was the most recent thing you looked up on
the internet for your studies or work?
2
How many clicks did you take before you found the
information you were looking for?
3
For what purposes do you use the internet in your
studies or work?
4
How do you use the internet to make new contacts
in your field of studies or work?
5
Do you use social networks in your studies or work?
If so, how do you use them?
6
Which blogs or forums do you read, follow or
contribute to?
2
4.7
Listen to Jeffrey Davis, a business consultant,
talking about how he uses the internet for his work.
What three uses of the internet does he mention?
3
a
Listen again and make notes about these topics.
1
how he deals with the great amount of material
on the internet
2
how he finds out about new articles or publications
3
the kind of networking he does
4
the difficulty of keeping up to date with trends and
business issues
5
how to make a lot of money in the future from
the internet
3
b
With a partner, compare the way Jeffrey uses
the internet with your own use of internet resources.
In what ways is your use similar or different? Do you
have the same problems he mentions?
3
c
What did you find most interesting about his talk?
4
When evaluating websites for research purposes,
useful information can be found by looking at the domain
suffix at the end of the website address. Complete the
sentences with the domain suffixes in the box.
.ac .co .com .edu .gov .net .org
1
The domain suffix for companies and businesses is
either
or
.
2
Another popular website suffix is
. It is used
by non profit-making organisations.
3
Internet-based companies, such as network
providers, frequently use the
suffix but it is
also used by all kinds of businesses.
4
Educational organisations, such as schools and
universities, usually use either the
suffix, or
the
one.
5
The
suffix indicates that it is a government
website.
5
Work in small teams. You are going to have a
competition to test your knowledge of country domain
suffixes (e.g.
.uk
at the end of a website means that it is
a United Kingdom-based website). In your teams, try
to identify as many of the country websites below in
two minutes.
.ru .de .tr .us .cz .fr .ch .cn .dk .uz
.in .jp .ar .br .ua .sg .th .vn .it .hu
6
a
Work in small groups. Read the suggestions for
evaluating websites used for research and choose the
six suggestions that you consider to be most useful.
1
You should always find out who runs the website.
2
You need to consider the purpose of the website.
3
It is important to know how old the website is.
4
It is not possible to know in which country a website
is based.
5
Websites run by governments are usually fairly reliable.
6
Commercial websites give reliable, accurate
information.
7
Professional associations (e.g. scientific societies) are
probably a good source of information.
8
A reputable website will not give you links to other
websites.
9
A website will be a useful source of information only
if it is updated regularly.
10
A website is usually reliable if it contains facts and
opinions, and the names of experts.
11
Social networks are the best source for finding new
contacts in your field.
12
A good website will often invite responses.
13
Reliable websites will usually give you links to
other websites.
14
You need to consider if the writer of the website is
objective or biased.
15
It is helpful if the website invites responses and you
can see who to respond to.
6
b
Join another group and compare your choices. Try
to agree on the top six choices.
7
4.8
Listen to a lecturer giving a presentation on
evaluating internet resources. Note down her six key
points. Then compare her tips with the ones you chose
in Exercise 6b. Are they the same or different?
8
Imagine you are going to write a report on
hypnotherapy for a serious magazine called
Science
Today
. Look up the topic online and choose the three
best websites to get information for your article.
Compare your choice with other students.
