🚀 go-pugleaf

>personally, I would be more likely to discriminate against 'free sites"
like
>GeoCities than ~ sites from Universities

Whoa! I have found some extremely good sites on GeoCities ranging from
Latin studies to an anthropology expert's Southwestern rock art site. I
have even contacted the sites' owners to check credentials. I have also
checked out ~ sites at universities (my son's and his friends' included)
and discovered a lot of dreck -even at the hands of some professors.
Right now I am studying for an advanced degree at a highly acclaimed
institution and can tell you that some of the professors' homepages are
pathetic and many of them are actually put together as projects by their
own students!

Not sure now who just mentioned it on the list, but "You can't judge a
book by its cover" is excellent advice. There are reasons for cliches.
"Let the buyer beware" is another we should pay attention to.

I think some of the best comments I have seen so far in this discussion
have pointed out that sites have to be evaluated on their own merits
according to the specific needs of the user. Yes, there are certain
"clues" that will tell us more than the document itself, but blanket
statements about URLs don't work here. We have to teach users the facts
and let them take it from there.

Keep in mind that value is in the eye of the beholder. The fact that we
understand the significance of a domain name like "angelfire" and what
the little ~'s on an edu site mean is why we are the professionals. What
we are examining here is "structure," not "value." Even in libraries -
generally considered to collect "worthwhile" materials, what is valuable
to one population (e.g dissertations in an academic library) could be
worthless to another (e.g. a small town public library).

As for authority, I have encountered enthusiasts and hobbyists that are
far more knowledgeable about their specialties than many professionals.

So IMHO, I think that we, as training professionals, should stay away
from value judgements on the Internet and teach people the critical
skills that will allow them to make informed judgement of their own.

Maribeth Sullivan
Franklin Pierce College Library
Rindge NH