Essay on Evaluating Internet Resources

It is important for an individual who is using information that is contained on the internet to evaluate it before using it.It is because unlike the television broadcasts and the newspaper where informations accuracy and quality is checked this is not applicable to the internets information or resource. On the web, we find that any person is allowed to publish whatever they want. When one is evaluating the Internet or information in a given website, he should check on the author, purpose, objectivity, accuracy, links, currency, reliability and the credibility of that information (Jacobson, 2000).

Through analyzing of the author of a particular information that is on the internet, it helps an individual to be able to tell more about him and his credentials as well as the experience he has on that field that he has. To know more about an author one should check personal homepages which are available on the website or information that is found on other search engines. It helps to know if the person is qualified enough to be able to write that particular information. If the owner or author is not found on the web page, the credibility of such information should be questioned by the one using it this is because he may be lacking the relevant experience and knowledge hence the information may be misleading. We can classify the information that is contained in the Institute for Safe Medication Practices as credible since the name of the organization has well been provided and their logo included on the website. They have also provided their location on the website and contacts which a person can use, and this makes their information to be considered as credible as this shows that they are liable for the information that is provided on the website ("Institute for Safe Medication Practices," n.d.).

For a person to effectively evaluate on whether to use a given information that is on the internet he should be in a position to tell the purpose or the motive that led to that particular web page being created by the author. It will help know whether the information was meant to be used for a scholarly purpose or just for the purpose of the general public. Information in a website could be utilized for the purpose of educating, informing, persuading or even selling a particular commodity to the user. The purpose of the information that is contained in the Institute for Safe Medication Practices is to educate the healthcare professionals and also create awareness. The information will be used be used to guide them on the safety tools and resources that are to be utilized in the health care Centre. Through the website information, the health care professionals will also be able to tell about the news and also events that are taking place in the institution. The web also provides a link where other consumers can get relevant information hence the information given on this website can be used in guiding a person more about the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (Trinkle & Merriman, 2007)

To be able to know whether to use the provided information on the internet sources an individual is also supposed to check on the objectivity of that given information. It helps a person to be able to differentiate facts from propaganda. The language that the author uses should not be biased. The content should have an official approval from the organization. It also helps to know about the accuracy of the information provided. One can be able to tell by checking if it has grammatical errors and other spelling mistakes. The information that has been used by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices website can be considered to be objective. The information is unbiased and is available to every person. The information has also been well written without any grammatical errors, and this makes it accurate. One can also tell that the information on this website is objective as it has been approved by the organization and all the rights have been reserved. The information on the website is also per the HON code standard for trustworthy health information, and they have also provided a link whereby one can verify the information that they have given.

When one is evaluating a web or internet information, he should check on the reliability as well as the credibility of that particular information. The information should be valid. The information that is provided should also be current and also up-to date. The links that are provided should not be outdated as well, and they should be related to the topic that is contained on the website. The information given on the website of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices can be considered as useful to the user as it is up to date and it has been updated in the year 2017.Hence the information is not outdated and will not mislead the person intending to use it. The Institute for Safe Medication Practices has provided a variety of links that the users can use to gather more information about the institution and also provided their contacts which a person can use to get further assistance ("Institute for Safe Medication Practices," n.d.).

In conclusion, the website of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices contains information that is credible and beneficial to the user. The information is current, and it has been updated in the current year hence it will not be misleading and also the website provides the purpose of the information and as well it is well objective. A user should make sure that he properly check that the web meets the needed conditions for him to rely on the information given on that particular website.

References

Institute for Safe Medication Practices. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ismp.org/

Jacobson, T. (2000). Critical thinking and the Web: Teaching users to evaluate Internet resources. Pittsburgh, Penn: Library Instruction Publications.

Trinkle, D. A., & Merriman, S. A. (2007). The American history highway: A guide to Internet resources on U.S., Canadian, and Latin American history. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.