Re: How to Cite

[Jill Burgchardt <jburgcha -at- PESTILENCE -dot- ITC -dot- NRCS -dot- USDA -dot- GOV>]

Mark Gellis wrote:

<In response to your other question...yes, you can and should use
an Internet source even if another version is available. >

Why? Or, why not use both and show you've found multiple sources?
A paper that cited only internet sources wouldn't have a lot of
credibility with me unless I knew the author was a skilled
researcher. (Exception:  I'd consider the internet a good source
if the topic were internet related, i.e., HTML.)

I'm amazed when I help my children use the Internet at home for
school papers. We find numerous articles with serious factual
errors. In researching Colorado, we found three different sites
each naming a different bird as Colorado's state bird. Several
sites about states and countries contain contradictory or outdated
"facts". My daughter's interested in rock collecting, too. We
found several rocks identified in incorrect groups. Those are just
recent examples.

I use the internet for research, but I'm cautious. We need to ask
the same questions about articles on the net as we do about
articles in journals and magazines:

What is the author's background?
What experts are cited?
Is this information from primary sources?
Is this viewpoint endorsed by other experts?
Is this publisher (site sponsor) known for unbiased or biased
reporting?

Yes, the Internet is just another medium. Unfortunately, when I
ask the above questions, I'm still finding too many sites with
credibility akin to that of tabloids rather than research
journals.

Jill Burgchardt

	http://www.documentation.com/, or http://www.dejanews.com/