Dimensions and use of the scholarly information environment.
Question 21: Table 603
Digital Library Federation.
Copyright, 2002, Council on Library and Information Resources.

Table 603
Q21. How do you verify the information you receive from the Internet?� That is,
���� how do you establish the accuracy of the information you receive from the
���� open Internet?
Base Faculty Member Graduate Student Faculty / Graduate Student Under Graduate Student Public Private Liberal Arts Biological Sciences Physical Sciences Social Sciences Arts & Humanities Engineering Business Law Undecided Major Male Female
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q
Base - Use the Internet 1046 302 333 635 410 433 276 336 150 175 295 207 44 131 10* 33* 599 447
Don't Know/Refused 29 8 12 20 10 17 3 9 2 6 8 6 1 4 0 3 17 12
2.8 2.6 3.5 3.1 2.4 4 1.1 2.7 1.2 3.4 2.5 2.7 3.3 2.8 3.3 9.1 2.8 2.8
F
Base - Total Responding 1017 294 322 616 401 416 273 327 149 169 288 202 42 127 10* 30* 582 435
Check it against another source 399 129 109 239 161 159 98 142 49 62 107 99 19 51 4 8 232 168
39.3 44 34 38.7 40.1 38.3 35.9 43.3 33.1 36.7 37.3 48.9 44.5 40.1 43.1 26.7 39.8 38.5
B HIJ H
Only reference known sources 210 64 72 136 74 73 66 72 26 41 66 34 6 30 2 7 128 82
20.7 21.9 22.4 22.1 18.4 17.4 24.2 21.9 17.2 24.3 22.9 16.7 14.4 23.4 15.5 23.3 22 19
E L
Trust the sponsoring organization/publisher 86 29 29 58 28 33 25 27 18 15 19 16 4 9 1 4 51 35
8.4 9.8 9.2 9.5 6.9 8 9.2 8.3 11.8 8.9 6.5 7.8 10.3 7.3 10.3 13.3 8.7 8
Only reference academic sources provided by 82 19 24 43 39 28 25 28 13 17 32 6 1 10 1 2 47 35
�an accredited institution 8.1 6.5 7.5 7 9.7 6.8 9.3 8.7 8.9 10.1 11.1 2.8 2.1 8 12.1 6.7 8 8.1
KL KL KL KL KL
Trust the web site 73 19 30 49 25 30 26 17 10 16 19 10 6 11 1 1 46 28
7.2 6.4 9.2 7.9 6.2 7.3 9.6 5.1 6.5 9.5 6.5 5 14.4 8.8 5.2 3.3 7.8 6.4
HJK
Trust the author 70 26 21 47 23 27 26 17 7 18 13 20 5 6 0 1 47 23
6.9 8.8 6.6 7.6 5.7 6.6 9.3 5.2 4.7 10.7 4.6 10 11 4.4 3.4 3.3 8.1 5.2
HJM HJM
Discuss with professor 67 0 19 19 48 21 9 37 4 13 26 17 2 2 1 3 32 35
6.6 0 6.1 3.2 11.9 5.1 3.2 11.4 2.4 7.7 9.2 8.3 5.5 1.5 5.2 10 5.6 8
A ABC EF HM HM HM M
Peer reviewed 43 23 12 35 8 20 12 11 10 9 11 4 2 5 0 1 25 17
4.2 7.8 3.7 5.7 1.9 4.9 4.2 3.3 6.5 5.3 3.9 2.2 5.5 3.6 1.7 3.3 4.3 4
BD D K
Trust the library/collection 42 9 21 30 13 26 9 7 6 6 11 11 3 4 0 1 19 23
4.2 3.1 6.5 4.8 3.1 6.2 3.5 2.1 4.1 3.6 3.9 5.6 6.8 2.9 1.7 3.3 3.3 5.3
G
Only reference sites recommended by� 34 6 9 16 19 11 11 13 2 4 9 16 1 2 0 1 17 18
colleague or peer 3.4 2.2 2.9 2.6 4.7 2.6 4.1 3.9 1.2 2.4 3.3 7.8 1.4 1.5 1.7 3.3 2.9 4.1
HILM
Do a search on the author 30 3 7 10 20 11 5 13 2 6 15 7 0 0 0 0 15 15
2.9 1 2.2 1.6 4.9 2.7 2 3.9 1.2 3.6 5.2 3.3 0 0 0 0 2.5 3.4
AC M LM M
Self investigation 26 11 3 14 11 5 7 13 4 5 8 3 1 2 0 2 12 14
2.5 3.9 0.9 2.3 2.8 1.3 2.6 4.1 3 3 2.6 1.7 3.4 1.5 1.7 6.7 2.1 3.1
B E
Trust if it is fee based site 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other 117 53 28 82 35 40 40 36 26 24 23 25 4 8 2 6 74 43
11.5 18.1 8.8 13.2 8.8 9.7 14.8 11.1 17.2 14.2 7.8 12.2 10.3 6.6 15.5 20 12.6 10
BD JM M M
Do not verify information 39 6 15 21 18 18 10 11 4 4 9 4 1 12 0 3 25 14
3.9 2 4.7 3.4 4.5 4.4 3.8 3.2 3 2.4 3.3 2.2 3.4 9.5 3.4 10 4.4 3.2
HIJK