Project tackles credibility of online info

"New 'Credibility Commons' aims to help users assess the reliability of information they find in web searches"
By Laura Ascione, Assistant Editor, eSchool News

"For students, and even for many educators, judging the reliability of information they find online can present a challenge. Now, a new project launched by two university researchers aims to change that. The project seeks to provide users with tools to more easily gauge the credibility of information they find through web searches.

May 15, 2006—Two university researchers, along with a team of experts, are working on a technology that would allow users to assess the credibility of information they find through web searches. Michael Eisenberg, professor and dean emeritus at the University of Washington, and David Lankes, an associate professor at Syracuse University, received a grant to establish a web site called the Credibility Commons. The site aims to provide computer programs and tools to help users more easily find credible information online.

The Credibility Commons arose out of a conference hosted by the University of Washington's Information School and sponsored by the American Library Association's Office of Information Technology Policy, with funding from the MacArthur Foundation. The conference centered on the credibility of internet information. Participants--who included experts from libraries, education, and other communications fields--sought to determine the scope of the problem, define the existing state of knowledge on the topic, and develop practical steps to address the credibility of information found through web searches."