ABC's of Information Evaluation

The internet has become the go-to place when one has an information need.  Whether a student or just the everyday Joe, the internet is probably the first line of inquiry.  According to Statistic Brain, Google averaged 4.7 billion searches per day in 2011.  It is crucial to understand how to evaluate the information found before using it as a resource.  While there is more to becoming competent in digital literacy, you can perform a quick mental check of the information using these three assessments.

A = Authority
Can you identify the author?  What are the author's qualifications?  Are they knowledgeable about the subject?  Is the contact information for the author included?  As a matter of personal integrity, you want to make sure the source is reliable and accurate before passing it along.  Realize that everything on the internet is not true.  I love this commercial - it cracks me up!!

B = Bias
Is it written with an agenda?  Is it meant to persuade you or sell you something?  Bias isn't necessarily a bad thing, we all have differing opinions, but if it is more than just presenting a different view be leary.  Take a look around the site, is it full of advertising?  Learn to identify embedded meanings.

C = Currency
When was it written?  When is the last time the website was updated?  Does your topic require current information or is dated information okay?

Performing these three assessments to evaluate information will enhance your research skills and put you on the road to becoming competent in digital literacy.

Further reading:

1. RADCAB: A mnemonic acronym for information evaluation - Created by Karen M. Christensson, M.S. Library Media Education - http://www.radcab.com/
2. Digital Literacy (Wikipedia) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_literacy
3. Digital Literacy (Cornell University) - http://digitalliteracy.cornell.edu/

Zee

The end of the challenge is here! Well technically, it ended two days ago.  I started the challenge without a theme in mind and took each day as it came.  I thought I might see a pattern emerge, but I cannot say I have seen one.  I still am not sure where I will go with my blogging or even how often I will write.  The discipline of the challenge and the guidance of the letter each day was helpful.  I enjoyed making new friends and plan on continuing to visit the challenge bloggers to catch up on reading and commenting.  All I can say for now is "ZEE you later alligator!"

Yada Yada Yada

"Yada, Yada, Yada" is what people sometimes say when they want to skip over the details of a story.  However, "Yada, Yada" has a different meaning for me thanks to the book series "The Yada Yada Prayer Group" by Neta Jackson.  The first book came out in 2003 and it looks like there are six books now (although I've only read the first three).  The thing that I love most about these books is the "sisterhood" that is developed between the unlikeliest of characters.

For that same theme, I also love Rebecca Wells' books Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and Ya-Yas in Bloom.  I can relate to Sidda...

“Sidda was tired of being vigilant, alert, sharp. She longed for porch friendship, for the sticky, hot sensation of familiar female legs thrown over hers in companionship. She pined for the girlness of it all, the unplanned, improvisational laziness. She wanted to soak the words "time management" out of her lexicon. She wanted to hand over, to yield, to let herself float down into the uncharted beautiful fertile musky swamp of life, where creativity and eroticism and deep intelligence dwell.”

And of course, I adore the movies "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants"!!  I have not got around to reading the books yet, maybe this summer...

“When life hands you lemons say 'hey I like lemons what else you got?”

“The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem. Got that?”

Girlfriends unite!!

X Marks the Spot

When I signed up for this A-to-Z Challenge, I neglected to think about there being days beginning with letters such as Q, X, or Z.  Those pesky letters are troublesome when I play Scrabble but even peskier trying to blog about them!

As you can tell, I have fallen behind schedule as the challenge ended yesterday and I still have the last three letters to go...

The only thing that came to mind for the letter X was the saying "X marks the spot" as we are all familiar with in conjunction with pirate maps.  I decided to dig around and do a little research.  Granted, I did not spend much time looking, but it seems that the phrase may have been first introduced by Robert Louis Stevenson in Treasure Island.  In my research, I also found a movie titled X Marks the Spot - it is a crime/drama from 1931 and the 1942 remake can be watched online here.

W is for Work

Thursday was Take our Daughters and Sons to Work Day -- my husband's work put on a big event where all of the employees and active duty military were invited to bring their kids.  The event showcased all kinds of military equipment.

I took our youngest son.  Of course, he wanted to hang out at his dad's table where all of the "cool" stuff was displayed.  At least, "cool" to a thirteen year old!  He was so excited and wanted to take lots of pictures to show his friends - he is sure they'll be jealous!

  

V is for Victory

April 27, 2012

Every year, our Boy Scout Troop performs the flag ceremony at our local Relay for Life event.  After the pledge and the National Anthem, the Scouts lead the "Victory" lap for the cancer survivors and their caregivers.

On this first lap, the survivors head out in one direction following our Scouts and the caregivers head out in the opposite direction until they meet in the middle.  All of the attendees gather around the track and cheer "victoriously" for these brave survivors.

Last night, the Relay for Life committee chose a "Prince" to honor.  This 12 1/2 year old boy has been in the fight for his life over the last year since his brain surgery.  After the surgery, he was unresponsive for over a week and withered away to 50 some pounds.  It was such a joy to see him there with a big smile and weighing in at over 60 lbs.  What a "Victory"!!

U is for Unique

Every "you" is unique!  Every "you" is not like any other "you" - everyone of us is unique!  "You" have unique DNA, fingerprints, personality, and characteristics.  Be the "you" that "you" were meant to be.

There is just one life for each of us:  our own.  ~Euripides

If God had wanted me otherwise, He would have created me otherwise.  ~Johann von Goethe

At bottom, every man knows well enough that he is a unique being, only once on this earth; and by no extraordinary chance will such a marvelously picturesque piece of diversity in unity as he is, ever be put together a second time.  ~Friedrich Nietzche