Introduction
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Precautions For all of its ease of access and volume of information, the Internet is fraught with risk when you do research. Accuracy and credibility can vary from site to site like a bouncing Ping-Pong ball. Using the Internet is a classic application of the Latin expression caveat emptor ( "Let the buyer beware.") Most of the time, of course, you are not a literal buyer. You don't have to spend money at most Web sites. In fact, in this course I have tried to omit sites that charge fees. You do, however, invest your time, and that's important. Moreover, your own credibility rests on the quality of the material that you use. If you submit inaccurate information in a news story or in an academic paper, your credibility will suffer. Therefore it is important to be selective about what information you use from the Internet. Note this comment from journalist Soledad O'Brien: "People can be easily duped on [the Web], where anonymity is the rule. People lie like fiends in news groups." So, be on your guard. We'll look at ways to check the accuracy of Web sites later in this course. For now, though, be careful out there. |