Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Keep in mind that many websites are created with an agenda in mind
that may conflict with providing objective facts. For example, someone
selling a product may exaggerate the product's benefits or post fictitious
reviews, and someone promoting a certain political agenda may twist or
intentionally misinterpret data to create an impression that supports his
or her position.
Many web pages contain ads, and the ads are not always sectioned off
separately from the main text; they may appear between the paragraphs
of an article and might trick you into thinking they are part of the article.
An ad is never a reliable source of information. Similarly,
sponsored link
are mini-ads that contain hyperlinks to other websites. Do not assume
that a sponsored link is relevant to the topic of the article or that the
author of the article even knows that the sponsored link is placed there.
sponsored link
A hyperlink that is placed on a
page because a payment has been made.
Forums
are public message boards that you access via websites. They
may be sponsored by a particular company, such as a support forum for a
certain kind of hardware or software, or they may be created and man-
aged by an individual. Because the posts on a forum are made by the
general public, not by known experts, you must be cautious about apply-
ing any advice you read in forums. For example, a forum post might rec-
ommend that you download and install a certain file, but that file might
have a virus or might cause compatibility problems on your computer.
Some forums are monitored by official or unofficial representatives of the
hosting company.
forum
A web-based discussion and advice-
sharing site.
A
knowledge base
is a more reliable source of information. It is a
set of articles provided and maintained by a company or government
agency about its products. For example, Microsoft has a knowledge
base in which you can look up officially approved articles about various
Microsoft products.
knowledge base
A set of articles provided and
maintained by a company or government agency
about its products.
Encyclopedia sites vary in their accuracy and reliability. Well-known ency-
clopedias such as
Encyclopedia Britannica
and
World Book Encyclopedia
may generally be thought of as accurate. However, many sites that appear
to be encyclopedias at first glance are actually wikis. A
wiki
is a knowl-
edge base in which content is user-generated, so that anyone can post
or edit entries, even someone who is not an expert on the topic or who
has an agenda to promote. The best-known wiki is
Wikipedia
(
www.
wikipedia.org/
). While Wikipedia is a good source of basic informa-
tion on a topic, it cannot be trusted as a reliable source by itself, because
of its nature; verify any information you learn from Wikipedia or any
other wiki with other sources.
wiki
A web-based application that can be edited
by anyone and that is usually informational or
instructive in nature.
Wikipedia
A free, online encyclopedia. Wikipedia
is an example of a wiki.
