How valid is it???

One of the nagging questions about using the Internet for information "harvesting" is whether a given piece of information is correct, valid, timely, reputable, etc. As consumers and providers, we have the challenge of devising guidelines for selection and distribution of materials from the World Wide Web (WWW, or web) that might be used for educational purposes.

What kinds of questions do you ask of the materials you read on the web, to ensure that they serve as reliable and valid examples of "information" that you would want to share with students?

Using your Netscape browser, find two areas that interest you. One should be in educational technology and one in a clinical or policy issue, in order to develop some guidelines for viewing and recommending educational material on the WWW.

You can start with Mirsky's Best on our School of Nursing home page (http://nurseweb.ucsf.edu/www/mirsky.htm), if you wish, or use any of the available network search engines (a good place to start is: http://www.search.com) on Netscape to search for sites that will then link you to others. Use about an hour of browsing time to identify your sites for review.

Then write a brief WordPerfect or other word processing document that you can send me via email. The document will consist of:

1. The URL (Internet address) of each of the sites you are reviewing

2. An assessment of the positive and negative features of the site, answering these questions:

• is it "attractive and readable"?
• does it present educational or informational material in logical form and format?
• is the information timely and accurate, to the best of your knowledge?
• who is the author or presenter? Is it industry-based, pharmaceutical company-based, noted organization-sponsored, or from a private citizen? What level of credibility can you assign it given its origin?
• are there links to reliable source documents or information?
• would you offer this site to other students who are interested in the same topic?
• list links that you identify as fitting a positive assessment, and links that you identify as fitting a negative assessment.

When we have your document, we will ask David Kell, our webmaster, to transform them to documents that we can access through our Nurseweb Forum. In this way, you will each be able to see the work the other is doing.

Likewise, Rob and I will evaluate sites in our own interest area. Please have this material transmitted to us one week after you get the assignment.

• Zina Mirsky zina.mirsky@nursing.ucsf.edu
• Rob Slaughter rob.slaughter@nursing.ucsf.edu