Title: ERAU Hunt Library and Internet Credibility
In their book, The Leadership Challenge, Kouzes &
Posner (2007) identify their first law of leadership as “If you don’t believe
the messenger, you won’t believe the message” (p. 38). Credibility matters.
Whether you’re a parent, a child, an employer, and employee, a friend, or a
student. Reporting false information, whether intentional or unintentional, can
derail a person’s career and capability in a moment’s notice. In their
textbook, Leadership: Enhancing the
Lessons of Experience, Hughes, Grant, & Curphy (2002) define
credibility as “the product of expertise and trust” (p. 522). For students and
leaders, expertise and trust start small but carry great growth potential.
The weight of accurate and credible research within the M.S.
in Leadership program cannot be understated. With that said, having access to
the Embry Riddle Aeronautical University’s (ERAU) Hunt Library has proven to be
a godsend. Online education offers its own set of unique challenges. By
creating the Hunt Library, the staff and volunteers at ERAU have equipped
students with a wide selection of books, article, professional journal’s and
DVDs. The material accessible within the Hunt Library consists of
research-based, scholarly submissions presented by experts in their field.
Marcia Clemmitt (2008) from
CQ Research, in her article Internet
Accuracy said, “Wikis—user generated online publications—like Wikipedia are
edited by staff and other users only after
they’ve been published online, unlike in traditional media, where editing comes
before publication” (Clemmitt, p. 627). While Google, Bing, and Yahoo public
search engines offer a vast selection of research possibilities, students must
take extra precaution to ensure the accuracy, precision, and truth behind the
articles are well founded.
Having immediate access to
the Hunt Library, Google Scholar, and other Internet activities has eased much
of the requirements of traditional research methods. The Internet isn’t going
away; in fact, it is developing. As a student, it would be wise to keep up with
the technology and proper research. To assist students, the Purdue Online
Writing Lab (OWL) identified five questions for determining website
credibility:
1. Who is the author?
Authors
respected in their fields of study write credible sources. Responsible,
credible authors will cite their sources so that you can check the accuracy of
and support for what they've written.
2. How recent is the source?
The
choice to seek recent sources depends on your topic. While sources on the
American Civil War may be decades old and still contain accurate information,
sources on information technologies, or other areas that are experiencing rapid
changes, need to be much more current.
3. What is the author’s purpose?
When
deciding which sources to use, you should take the purpose or point of view of
the author into consideration.
4. What type of sources does your audience
value?
If you
are writing for a professional or academic audience, they may value
peer-reviewed journals as the most credible sources of information.
5. Be especially careful when evaluating
Internet sources!
Never use
Web sites where an author cannot be determined, unless the site is associated
with a reputable institution such as a respected university, a credible media
outlet, government program or department, or well-known non-governmental
organizations.
Leaders are challenged to
present accurate, factual, and relevant information. By utilizing the ERAU Hunt
Library, retrieving and verifying actual Internet sources, and following the
five guidelines presented above, students will be better equipped when
verifying information as fact.
Steve
References:
Clemmitt,
M. (2008). Internet Accuracy. CQ Research,
18, (27), 626-648. Retrieved from
Hughes, R., Ginnett, R., & Curphy, G.
(2002). Leadership: Enhancing the Lessons of Experience. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill
Companies.
Kouzes, J. & Posner, B. (2007). The
Leadership Challenge. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Weida,
S. & Stolley, K. (2012). Purdue Online Writing Lab. Retrieved from
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/588/02/
You elevate your reflection into scholarly work. Great overview!
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