Internet Credibility and the User

Internet Credibility and the User Symposium April 11-13, 2005 Marriott Waterfront Hotel - Seattle, Washington

A project of the American Library Association Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP) and the Information School of the University of Washington, funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Rick Weingarten, Director of OITP hosted the symposium, along with Mike Eisenberg, Dean of the Information School who facilitated the discussion. The symposium brought together 35 invited experts from academia, industry, government, education, and the design, library, and information professions. The opening discussions of symposium participants were guided by commissioned papers. These papers provide background on current knowledge, define key issues, and recommend possible solutions relating to the challenges that people face as they seek to determine what and who to believe and trust as they use the Internet in their daily lives.

The papers addressed Internet Credibility and the User from one of three perspectives:

• Skills, including information literacy and related literacies, that users must possess to be effective in an information environment;
• Tools and technologies that are designed to allow users to navigate information; and
• Institutions such as libraries and schools that transfer these skills and prepare individuals to be critical thinkers and consumers of information.

The goals for the April Symposium were to:

• Facilitate a conversation between leaders in the three areas identified above, and help them to find common ground that will allow them to better serve the user;
• Raise awareness about the challenges determining credibility poses users of the Internet and how this is an issue of vital concern;
• Review what is known both in research and practice;
• Pose new ideas and solution related to skills, institutions, and tools;
• Make recommendations:
• For education, practice, and research
• For institutions, intermediaries, producers, consumers, educators, and others;
• Produce practical guidelines for various user groups;
• Identify gaps and needs related to use and practice; and
• Lay out research agenda and key, important questions that relate to practice

While the papers and the symposium are research-based, a basic goal is the development of guidelines, principles, and practices that can lead to effective pragmatic solutions for users.

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Internet Credibility and the User
Email: kruns@ischool.washington.edu
Web Address: http://www.ischool.washington.edu/credibility