Is wikipedia as credible as Encyclopedia Britannica? What factors do people consider when determining whether a web site or other information source is credible? Professor Scott Nicholson helped to lead a discussion of these and other issues of the credibility of information.
"Google thinks that popularity and credibility are the same," Nicholson said. "In some disciplines, they may be. In others, not." Should we trust the wisdom of the crowd? Will the best information bubble up?
Most agreed that credibility is a very subjective experience, and design often plays a role. If a web site is designed well, people generally trust it more. Also, one theory also suggests that trust is developed when the information seems plausible and fits with an individual's value system.
They are also asking whether user-generated comments on such sites as Amazon.com helpful in assessing credibility or is it just an extra layer of work for the users. The participants discussed identifying classes of users on the scale of credibility. On a medical information site, for example, a doctor's postings on treatment would have more credibility than a lay person; but a patient may be more reliable in describing the effects of chemotherapy.
The group offered several questions that present interesting areas for further research and exploration. Some of those include:
How does language and translations affect credibility?
Is there a way to measure credibility?
Can iSchool researchers create a metric to determine the credibility?
What's the relationship between credibility versus believability; credibility versus validity; credibility and convenience; and credibility and trust or skepticism?
"Google thinks that popularity and credibility are the same," Nicholson said. "In some disciplines, they may be. In others, not." Should we trust the wisdom of the crowd? Will the best information bubble up?
Most agreed that credibility is a very subjective experience, and design often plays a role. If a web site is designed well, people generally trust it more. Also, one theory also suggests that trust is developed when the information seems plausible and fits with an individual's value system.
They are also asking whether user-generated comments on such sites as Amazon.com helpful in assessing credibility or is it just an extra layer of work for the users. The participants discussed identifying classes of users on the scale of credibility. On a medical information site, for example, a doctor's postings on treatment would have more credibility than a lay person; but a patient may be more reliable in describing the effects of chemotherapy.
The group offered several questions that present interesting areas for further research and exploration. Some of those include:
How does language and translations affect credibility?
Is there a way to measure credibility?
Can iSchool researchers create a metric to determine the credibility?
What's the relationship between credibility versus believability; credibility versus validity; credibility and convenience; and credibility and trust or skepticism?
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