Discovery Channel Program Exercise in Support and Credibility of Experts by

each person you research— Yes, that means 10 pages

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.

  1. Choose two:

Dr. Robert Folk, a geologist

Dr. Monica Grady, a meteorite specialist

Dr. Michael Persinger, neurologist and geologist

Dr. Joe Nickell, a paranormal investigator

Dr. David M. Jacobs, an historian

Dr. Jack Cohen, a reproductive biologist

Garry Wood, an ambulance driver in Edinburgh, Scotland

  1. Take a screen shot of the list of links that appear.

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.

  1. 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.

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