64 – Interpretation: reading and taking notes
not been through a process of screening by publishers’ editors and
academic readers before it appears on a website. The internet is therefore a seductive medium for special-interest groups, propagandists
and even tricksters to place their opinions before a large audience.
(There are websites which in their layout and many of their details
mimic ‘official’ websites so closely that it takes some experience and a
shrewd eye to recognise them for the parodies they are.) With this in
mind many tutors will provide a list of authoritative websites appropriate for the subjects you are studying, just as they give you reading
lists for printed matter. This should not, however, prevent you from
casting your net more widely, any more than you have to restrict
your reading to books on the reading lists, as long as you are aware
of the potential pitfalls.
Most commentators on how to approach websites appeal to a
variant of what we have noticed above about distinguishing evidence,
interpretation and authoritative opinion, and weighing these factors
up. In this respect the critical reading of websites is much the same
as that which you apply to printed matter. Are the sources made
explicit, and the evidence both reported accurately and presented as
objectively as possible within the terms of the argument being put
forward? Do the interpretations or opinions flow from the evidence
presented rather than being plucked out of thin air; and how well
are other opinions engaged with and discussed? What clues to the
authorship or sponsorship of a website can you glean by noting the
domain in the address (e.g. .gov, .ac.uk, .edu, .org, .co, .com) or by
clicking an ‘about us’ button on the website? Finally, as with a book
or journal article, you want to know when the site was posted, when
it has been maintained and updated and whether the information in it
is still likely to be current. For a more complete introduction to how
to analyse a website, the following two online tutorials have proved
(at the time of writing) to be thorough, well maintained and durable:
E. Place et al. (2006), ‘Internet detective: wise up to the
web’, 3rd edn, Intute Virtual Training Suite. www.vts.intute.ac.uk/
detective.
Susan E. Beck (1997, 2008), ‘The good, the bad & the ugly: or,
why it’s a good idea to evaluate web sources’. http://lib.nmsu.edu/
instruction/evalcrit.html.
not been through a process of screening by publishers’ editors and
academic readers before it appears on a website. The internet is therefore a seductive medium for special-interest groups, propagandists
and even tricksters to place their opinions before a large audience.
(There are websites which in their layout and many of their details
mimic ‘official’ websites so closely that it takes some experience and a
shrewd eye to recognise them for the parodies they are.) With this in
mind many tutors will provide a list of authoritative websites appropriate for the subjects you are studying, just as they give you reading
lists for printed matter. This should not, however, prevent you from
casting your net more widely, any more than you have to restrict
your reading to books on the reading lists, as long as you are aware
of the potential pitfalls.
Most commentators on how to approach websites appeal to a
variant of what we have noticed above about distinguishing evidence,
interpretation and authoritative opinion, and weighing these factors
up. In this respect the critical reading of websites is much the same
as that which you apply to printed matter. Are the sources made
explicit, and the evidence both reported accurately and presented as
objectively as possible within the terms of the argument being put
forward? Do the interpretations or opinions flow from the evidence
presented rather than being plucked out of thin air; and how well
are other opinions engaged with and discussed? What clues to the
authorship or sponsorship of a website can you glean by noting the
domain in the address (e.g. .gov, .ac.uk, .edu, .org, .co, .com) or by
clicking an ‘about us’ button on the website? Finally, as with a book
or journal article, you want to know when the site was posted, when
it has been maintained and updated and whether the information in it
is still likely to be current. For a more complete introduction to how
to analyse a website, the following two online tutorials have proved
(at the time of writing) to be thorough, well maintained and durable:
E. Place et al. (2006), ‘Internet detective: wise up to the
web’, 3rd edn, Intute Virtual Training Suite. www.vts.intute.ac.uk/
detective.
Susan E. Beck (1997, 2008), ‘The good, the bad & the ugly: or,
why it’s a good idea to evaluate web sources’. http://lib.nmsu.edu/
instruction/evalcrit.html.