July 8, 1997

The second day of Shodor's Internet Explorers Club concentrated on an examination of the reliability of sources on the Internet and the means by which these sources are found. The students, aided by the Shodor staff, succeeded in this endeavor.

"How do you know if you can trust something on the Internet?," was the question posed by Joe South, the program's primary instructor. In asking this question, students were forced to consider an often over-looked problem facing Internet users. To answer this question, students were asked to look at several web-based periodical tables that displayed differing numbers of elements. In reviewing the sites, students were asked to consider how the reliability of a source could be logically determined. After all, each account (although different), claimed to be a reliable source of information on the elements.

After attempting to define reasonable methods for determining the reliability of a site, the students worked as a group to determine their collective answers. Students determined that reliability could be ascertained by taking into account the information's source, reviewing the organization or person responsible for posting the information, and simply inferring whether or not the source "sounds crazy."

Next the students reviewed the means by which information could be located on the Internet--search engines. First, through Yahoo!, the students explored the Internet categorically. Then, with AltaVista, the students moved on to standard searches using the full syntax accorded to AltaVista.

All in all, the students successfully learned how to properly use search engines and were soon exploring the Internet themselves, now armed with these new navigational tools. To conclude that segment of the day's Program, each student was assigned a specific science-based subject . Students were then given the task of finding five good, exciting links to material pertaining to this subject using search engines.

The second day, facing new challenges and new opportunities, proved to be as much a victory as the first. The day was spent almost entirely on the computer, providing the students with a true and in-depth knowledge of proper computer and Internet usage. Upon leaving the Foundation, students' understood and appreciated their improved understanding of the Internet.