Reflections: The Internet has fundamentally changed our lives. It has the potential to democratize knowledge, by making available a seemingly limitless range of possibilities for research and the communication of ideas and information. It has no geographical boundaries. It truly is a world wide web

The Internet has fundamentally changed our lives. It has the potential to democratize knowledge, by making available a seemingly limitless range of possibilities for research and the communication of ideas and information.

Goals: In this chapter we will look at the Internet and see how our critical thinking tools can be used to help us spot web hoaxes, deceit and trickery on the web, and check for authenticity of a website. My two main goals are these:

1. We will see how critical thinking skills help us in running searches on the Internet.
   
   
2. A second goal is to learn skills for evaluating websites.
   
   
3. Another goal is to look at issues related to the Internet, such as intellectual freedom, questions involving censorship and hate speech.
   
   

Imaging the Internet

The web may seem fragile, but is a well-constructed series of links with almost limitless possibilities. The Internet really is a kind of net. In spite of attempts to set down some limits--such as protections for children who may be vulnerable to predators--much of the Internet is wide-open territory. In that sense, cyberspace really is a kind of space.

Web Hoaxes

The Web lends itself to practical jokes and hoaxes, given the ease of constructing and dismantling bogus sites. Some also play on people's gullibility and curiosity. There are many examples of fake Web sites, parodies and spoofs. These sites range from the morally repulsive to the bizarre to the amusing to the hilarious. The many fake sites that are pornography sites are out there.

Deceit and Trickery with Domain Names

Web hoaxes and parodies aren't the only potholes on the Internet. What about the debate over domain names? Someone can have a business or organization with the same or similar name as a more famous one. This gets into the phenomenon of 'cybersquatting'--where someone buys up the name of some well-known company and then demands money to give it up. It certainly has created havoc for companies, groups, and individuals. In 1999 in tacit recognition of the greedy or malevolent acts by some cybersquatters, Congress enacted the Anti-cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act. This act allows publishers to take civil action against anyone with bad-faith intent to profit from use of an identical or confusingly similar domain name.

Hoax-busters: Helpful resources are hoax-buster sites and scambuster sites. In an article in Searcher magazine, Paul Piper notes a number of such sites, including: http://www.nonprofit.net/hoax/hoax.html, http://www.fraud.org/welmes.htm (a consumer fraud center, including Internet fraud), http://www.scambusters.org, and http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIAHoaxes.html (U.S. Department of Energy site that lists hoaxes). These are helpful to know about, when confronting problems with hoax sites, such as: the American Library Association (http://www.ala.org) and the U.S. Department of Energy (http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIAHoaxes.html.

Dirty Tricks

Yes there are hoax sites. Then there are the dirty tricks. As anyone who uses the Web regularly knows, sometimes you click a link and end up at a pornography site. This is an example of what's been called "user manipulation." Manipulators of the Web have also been known to disable the "Back" button, keeping you stuck at the site so you'll look at its content and ads. Then there's metatagging. A metatag is a place in the HTML code where information about the site is listed. By putting in popular terms (like "sex") in the metatags will guarantee more surfers to that Web site.

Applying Critical Thinking Skills to the Web

Life can be very funny. Even when it comes to computer viruses, things can take a humorous turn. Take the example of the 'naked wife' virus that evidently ran amok in May 2001. While the worm was chomping its way through victims' computer files, governmental officials were gnashing their teeth trying to find a way to warn people. Evidently they became victims of their own forethought. The very warnings they tried to send bounced back, censored.

Applying Critical Thinking Skills

Whether we surf the Web or dogpaddle our way through a few Web sites, we need to be able to think critically about what we see and read. Not only do we have to deal with images, symbols, and text, but we also have to deal with advertising, dirty tricks, hoaxes, spoofs, being manipulated, and sent to a pornographic hinterland or an advertising stranglehold that traps us in its lair (at least until we shut down). And that's not even considering computer viruses arriving through email attachments or email advertising that comes out of nowhere.

Applying Critical Thinking Skills to the Internet

• Analysis
  
  
• Deductive Reasoning
  
  
• Inductive Reasoning
  
  
• Fallacies
  
  
• Problem Solving
  
  
• Question Techniques
  
  
• Argumentation
  
  
• Use of Language
  
  
• Visual Messages/Verbal Messages
  
  
• Using Diverse Perspectives
  
  
• The News Media
  
  
• Advertising
  
  
• Film and TV
  
  

Web Analysis

Our Critical Thinking skills can help us steer our way through all this and hopefully get us to a Web site that either meets our objective or provides valuable leads so we can continue our quest. In addition to our own reasoning powers, the American Library Association (ALA) has produced helpful guidelines for evaluating Web sites.

We cannot assume everything we find on the Web is legitimate, well researched, or credible. Most documents have not been subjected to a peer review, a professional organization, or an editorial staff. And most are not held to any standard of excellence. This means we have to learn to evaluate sites and determine the value and legitimacy of the material we find. Let's look at the ALA recommendations and then we'll try to apply them to a range of Web sites:

Five Criteria for evaluating Web pages:

1. Accuracy
   
   
2. Authority
   
   
3. Objectivity
   
   
4. Currency
   
   
5. Coverage
   
   

Web Research: Defending or Attacking a Claim

There are two key questions here:

1. Will you access good information?

   → This is a Search Question

2. Can you distinguish higher-level from lower-quality Web sites and documents?

   → This is an Evaluation Question

We need to look at both of these questions. The first one involves being able to search the Web. For that, you need to know how to use Search Engines, when to try more than one Search Engine, and other ways to access reference material. That can take time, so that needs to be factored in as well. Also, we need to apply problem-solving and questioning techniques to optimize searches. The second question brings in the range of critical thinking skills set out earlier in the chapter (see "Applying Critical Thinking Skills to the Internet.")

10 Wonders of Web Research

1. Research Takes Time
2. Think like a Fox
3. Be imaginative
4. Libraries are Good Things
5. Don't Reinvent the Wheel
6. Know Your Friends
7. Consider Unlikely Suspects
8. Network
9. Ask Questions.
10. Keep an Open Mind.

The Internet and Intellectual Freedom

Access to ideas and information is necessary for a democracy to flourish--and we cannot take this for granted. Just look at the ongoing issues around works of fiction. In the last 30 years a number of novels have been banned from libraries or schools. Many of these works are considered classics of fiction. But objections were raised for a variety of issues (depending upon the work). And yet, many of these works are also celebrated.

The American Library Association (ALA) is actively trying to stop the censorship of ideas or information that individuals or groups find objectionable or dangerous. Not all librarians agree with this and have protested the ALA's unwillingness to discuss this issue at all.

Conflicting Views of the Internet

Los Cybrid is made up of artists who have let out a battle cry against technology and information society. Many do worry about the gap between the rich and the poor--and the ways in which such uses of technology as we see in the Internet may be fueling that division. It is a legitimate concern, especially if we consider how powerful a tool the Internet can be. On the other hand, the Internet can also be used to fortify resistance, strengthen channels of communication, and share information--and do all this quickly and efficiently. And, although it provides channels for mega-corporations to expand their horizons, we also find Web sites allowing those in far-away places to survive.

The Internet and Community

Potentially as powerful as shared reading experience is the channel for dialogue that has been opened by the Internet. This channel has both positive and negative aspects. Surely the dark side is that hate groups can proliferate, given the almost otherworldly or underground quality to the Internet. And yet, there is this amazing positive side. This tool allows people to communicate without ever hearing the other's voice or seeing the other's handwriting. This use of the Internet to help others in a time of such crisis must be heartening to those who envisioned the Internet as a channel for networking and for a sense of a broader community working together for common goals.

Hate Speech on the Web

The Web is no more immune from hate speech that any other vehicle of communication that does not have strict controls in place. The very existence of hate-filled Web sites has created a controversy around freedom of speech and freedom of information. Many think we ought to err on the side of freedom, letting the audience decide for themselves where the axe should fall in terms of what is legitimate and what isn't. On the other hand, there are view with alarm the rise of hate-sites and think the very ease of access and use of the Web means those who are most vulnerable (such as children) may become victims.