Internet and Information Paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

cyberspace and Information Paper - Assignment Example any you need to do is get an access of an Internet connected computer and get the training you want by exploring the sites in the web. However, as there be many sites in the web that provide information, one may become doubtful about the determine of those sources, particularly when it comes to the credibleness and dependability of the information. On much(prenominal) cases, Internet users should exercise their critical evaluation skills when reviewing the information found in online articles. This is because failure in evaluating information critically may mislead readers, which may terminus to misinformed judgements. Miriam J. Metzger (2007), in her article Making Sense of Credibility on the Web, evaluates different journals about online information evaluation and concludes that there are three factors that affect the credibility of online information namely, the content of the information, the author, and the site on wh ich the information appear (p. 2078). With these factors, Metzger too asserts that the Checklist Approach to online information evaluation is the most useful tool in evaluating the reliability and credibility of information in the Internet. The criteria in the checklist include the 1) objectivity of the argument, 2) authors professional record, 3) date of the sources, 4) academic writing conventions (grammar and referencing styles), and 5) stamp of approval from ordained evaluation committee/s (Metzger, 2007, p. 2080). In evaluating the objectivity of the information, one should read the article and consider whether the author presents the two opposing sides of the argument without personal biases. Readers should excessively consider the authors professional record to see if the author has a comprehensive theoretical background and/or field experience of the issuing in question. Further, it is also necessary to check the writing style and presentation of the article because thes e show how the author values the academic and professional content of his/her article, which also affect its academic and professional reception of the article. As readers, we also look forward to getting fresh information as it informs us on new social conditions thus, we should be vigilant about the date of the article to ensure that we can get fresh information on the topic. Lastly, the presence of stamps of approval adds value to the article as it suggests that professionals and members of official evaluation committees also read the article. With regard to your inquiry about the digital divide, the term refers to the gap between information haves and information have-nots (Campbell, Martin, & Fabos, 2012, p. 63). Information haves are those people who can vitiate computers and Internet services while information have-nots are those whose financial capabilities are not enough to buy those services. The gap between the two groups increases because of the fact that there are sti ll other factors that affect peoples inability to get Internet access. For instance, Campbell et al. (2012) upgrade explain that age, educational attainment, and family background may also inhibit people to get Internet access. Specifically, learning to use the Internet and understanding basic Internet skills may become challenging tasks for older people the same is true for people with lower educational attai