research Discovery Channel Who are the Experts

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Humanities

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Discovery Channel Program Exercise in Support and Credibility of Experts by Googling — minimum 5 pages of writing (approx. 1250 words) for each person you research

How can you tell which online information comes from reliable authorities? Anytime you use someone else's words or ideas in your writing or formal speaking you should be aware who that person is; you can start now investigating the reliability of any sources you are thinking of quoting or paraphrasing.

We like to think that if information is in print, it is reliable. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. People with unjust biases and even those who want to sow hatred find their way into print. In general, works that appear in print go through a much more extensive vetting process than what appears online, but there are so-called vanity presses that will publish pretty much anything if the author will pay the cost. There are also all sorts of periodicals that express slanted—and often conflicting—points of view, some of them offensive to many of us. That's what comes of freedom of the press.

When you go online, how can you start to weed through a list of results to find reliable authorities? For one thing, you can learn to "read" the list of results you get from Google or other search engines.

Please document the following by taking screen shots and explaining in prose as you work through your research in order to discover the possible credibility of two of the experts from the list. Please number each part of your assignment.

  • Choose two:

Dr. Robert Folk, a geologist

Dr. David M. Jacobs, an historian

  • Take a screen shot of the list of links that appear. Be sure to post this and all other screen shots in your paper. Before you click on a link, examine the first ten to fifteen entries in the resulting list. Yes, you may use Wikipediaas one source for this assignment. Look at each URL and see what you can learn from it. Also notice any other information that might affect your opinion of the source's reliability or objectivity.
  • Are there sources that you immediately trust as reliable? Which ones, and why?
  • Are there any that you immediately assume will present a biased perspective? Which ones, and why?
  • Are there any that are completely unfamiliar to you? If so, choose two or three and speculate what type of source each might be.
  • Now click on a couple of the sources that you trusted as being reliable. Identify exactly who wrote the document that you have accessed. If you cannot find an author, what does that suggest? If there is an author, search that person’s name and see if you find convincing credentials that support the assumption that he or she is qualified to write on the subject at hand.
  • Do the same with at least two sources that you predicted would be biased. Does further investigation support your assumption?
  • Go to at least one of the sources that were unfamiliar to you. Once you look more closely at the source, do you find any evidence of its reliability or lack thereof? Explain.
  • Based on your research, do you think the expert is credible in his/her field? Give at least two examples why.

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Explanation & Answer

Attached.

Surname 1
Name
Tutor
Course
Institution
Date
Conducting Research using Online Resources
Dr. Robert Folk
Using Google search to acquire information about Robert L. Folk reveals several links
with some being about his life such as Wikipedia, his accomplishments, and information about
his death and burial arrangements. Despite Wikipedia not being a reliable source, it provides a
lot of information about Robert Folk more than any other website. Wikipedia can be easily edited
and this is why any information form the source is not reliable.
Robert Folk was a geologist, and from the links that appear the website legacy.com seems
to be a reliable source of information about the scientist as the title indicates Folk’s name with
the label ‘earth scientist’ afterward. The second link also seems to be reliable as the websites
name is whatwhenhow.com and the website itself deals with geology and thus if one was keen
on finding information about people in the fields of geography and other sciences that such a
website would be helpful.
Some links look like they would have biased information both for and against Robert l.
Folk as a scientist. The first is the tadfonline.com website whose title only indicates that Folk

Surname 2
was awarded a Neil Miner award in 1989. This seems to be a link that would be overly
supportive of Folk’s work as they are only interested in showing that Folk was a recipient of the
award for his contribution. The other link from the SpaceDaily’s website also looks to be biased
prior to opening it due to its title ‘life’s rusty old debate’ which indicates that something about
Folk, his work, or his belief system was still being debated upon and had not yet been fully
accepted by all.
Looking at the first link of the ‘what-when-how’ website indicates that the article does
not have an author which indicates that the site might just be a generic site that contains
information about some things and which cannot be verified or followed up as there is no
specific author of the information on the website, with the website being the only person that can
be blamed for any wrong information in the material posted. The second post of the American
geosciences institute indicates that the author's name is Joseph lilek.
The author is the communications manager at the American Geosciences Institute and he
has also worked for the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, and the center for
remote sensing of ice sheets. However, the jobs have been mostly internship jobs or as a research
assistant in the center for remote sensing of ice sheets. The experience Joseph has worked with
the different departments that deal in geology coupled with the fact that he is communications
manager of the American Geosciences Institute means that his posts reflect the institute's vision
and beliefs.
Of the two links that look to be biased involves the ‘tandfonline’ website which on
clicking reveals an image of an article whose label under the picture indicates that Robert l Folk
was a recipient of the Neil Miner Award by President Picard. Following up on this indicates that

Surname 3
Folk was a recipient of the award which is given each year to individuals who have contributed
something in the world of earth sciences th...


Anonymous
Awesome! Perfect study aid.

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