If I were to write a paper I would choose culture and the what makes cultures different. With a paper I would more than likely use resources from the library. When I do write I usually choose references that are encyclopedias or history books because they are reliable. I definately try to find a site that is creditable. If it isn’t my entire paper is a lie and if that’s the case I know the grade I receive will reflect the oversights I have made. If I use online sites, I learned through a class I had taken previously to cut shore the website so that all you see is the base page (such as www.wordpress.com, not www.tammyroebke.wordpress.com) because you can get more information on the website this way. You can see where the information came from and if there is any academic backing. Also, using websites that are .org or .edu are better than .com because anyone can have a .com site.
The following is one of the sources I would use:
http://www.analytictech.com/mb021/cultural.htm
I chose this one because there were many comparisons on cultural differences on the site. I believe the site because I did break it down to the base site and it is a analytic technology site.
The following site is the next one I chose:
http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/culture_conflict/
I believe this one partially because it ends in .org. It is a project being done through the University of Colorado that speaks of the interaction between cultures and people.
The third site I chose was the following:
http://blue.butler.edu/~jfmcgrat/culture.htm
Again, the site ends in .edu so I believe it is more believable than others I looked at. It is also ran by a college, Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. This site talks about the history of cultures and the differences there are in them.
If I were the professor, I would rate the sources by the believability they all posess. I will be honest in that I would prefer an actual book (from a library or personal ownership) rather than an online source. My reasoning is that using a book shows the initiative of going to the library to find your sources rather than sitting at the computer and typing in your search, quickly perusing the site, then picking what you want to use from the site.
One problem in our culture and society is that we are drawn to the internet. It is easy and convenient; much easier than going to the library. Our dependence on the internet is shown in our reading from Woods and Smith. The author states that 13% of people spend less time with family because of the dependence on the internet, 26% spent less time talking on the phone, and 8% attended fewer social events. These statistics alone show how much people use the internet. So, when it comes to using sources for a paper, these statistics show that people are more likely to use the internet rather than a different source just our of convenience.
You made a very good point in your blog this week. It is so true that we use the internet for convenience. Last night I was watching a movie with a talking animal. I recognized the voice but I couldn’t put a name or face. So, I went to http://imdb.com, looked up the movie and got the name before the commercials ended.
It’s interesting that you find .edu and .org more reliable sources than .com or others. While I would agree that articles, research, or whatnot from a reputable university might be more “safer” in truthful content than from some random person blogging about the topic. However, even university websites need to be backed up by some accountable practice in ensuring that news, research, articles and so forth is as accurate as possible. Case in point – I was one of the ones responsible in the early 90s to get all the schools in the diocese on the Internet. We ALL have .org as a tag because we are a non-profit organization. Since then, most schools keep them up-to-date with accurate information but others are not updated and we get misinformed by old information.
What I’m getting at is that the site should have more than just a “believable” tag. There should be an about site that has email addresses to people who publish the content in case of questions and that person needs to follow-up. If there is no way to contact someone, or you get no response, I would not consider the source as reliable. Just my thought on it.