An Investigation into the Users’ Role in the Credibility Assessment of Web-Based Information Resources from Region one of Islamic Azad University (IAU) Faculty Members’ View Point

Document Type : مقالات پژوهشی

Authors

• Mohammad Ali Karimian ¹
• Abbas Horri ²

¹ Islamic Azad University, Science & Research Branch, Tehran,Iran

² Tehran University

10.22067/riis.v5i1.19144

Abstract

Purpose: Different studies which are carried out on the credibility assessment of Web-based information, have taken different factors and levels into account including websites, information sources, information, messages, and the context within which credibility assessment is made. There are still other factors which do not depend on the source in question, but are related to the user who searches the information, and his or her characteristics, attributes, and behaviors. In the present study, first the role and position of users in credibility assessment was reviewed through investigating 7 credibility assessment models. Then, the most important factors and criteria of the models were illustrated according to the views of faculty members.
Methodology: This study used the survey and library-based methods. The population included 1975 full-time faculty members of region 1 of Islamic Azad University (IAU). Based on Cochran formula, the sample of the study included 322 participants. To test the hypotheses, one-way variance was used. The data were processed in SPSS.
Findings: The findings showed that criteria such as user’s purpose, user’s competence (knowledge of the topic information technology, the Internet, and evaluation), and motivation were among the most important criteria for the users’ credibility assessment of information, from the faculty members’ perspective.

Keywords

• Credibility
• Credibility assessment
• Information resources
• Web, Credibility assessment Models
• Users

---

References

Alexander, J. E. & Tate, M. A. (1999). Web wisdom: How to evaluate and create information quality on the Web. , New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Retrieved Jun 25, 2010 , from: [ http://books.google.com/books? id=Uldz_xhgn8C&dq ]

Brandt, D.S. (1996). Evaluating information on the Internet. Computers in Libraries, 16, 44–46.

Eastin, M. S. (2001). Credibility assessments of online health information: The effects of source expertise and knowledge of content. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 6(4), Retrieved June 5 2009 , Available in:

[ http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol6/issue4/eastin.html ]

Fogg, B. J. (2002). Stanford guidelines for Web credibility. Stanford Persuasive echnology Lab, Stanford University. Retrieved February11, 2010, from: www.webcredibility.org/guidelines

Fogg, B. J. (2003). Prominence-interpretation theory: Explaining how people assess credibility online. CHI ’03 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 722–723.

Fogg, B. J., Marshall, J., Laraki, O., Osipovich, A., Varma, C., Fang, N., Paul, J., et al. (2001).What makes Web sites credible? A report on a large quantitative study. Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 61–68.

Fogg, B. J., Soohoo, C., Danielson, D. R., Marable, L., Stanford, J., & Tauber, E. R. (2003). How do users evaluate the credibility of Web sites? A study with over 2,500 participants. Proceedings of the 2003 Conference on Designing for User Experiences Retrieved Jun 25, 2010, from:[http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=997097&dl=GUIDE&coll=GUIDE&CFID

Fritch, J. W., & Cromwell, R. L. (2001). Evaluating Internet resources: Identity, affiliation, and cognitive authority in a networked world. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 52, 499–507.

Hawkins, S. D. (1999). What is credible information? Online, 23(5), 213–219.

Herring, S. D. (2001). Using the World Wide Web for research: Are faculty satisfied? Journal of Academic Librarianship, 27(3), 213–219.

Hilligoss, B. & Rieh, S. Y. (2008). Developing a unifying framework of credibility assessment: Construct, heuristics, and interaction in context. Information Processing and Management 44 , 1467–1484

Hovland, C. I., Janis, I. L., & Kelley, H. H. (1953). Communication and persuasion. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Liu, Z. (2004). Perceptions of credibility of scholarly information on the Web. Nformation Processing & Management, 40, 1027–1038.

Liu, Z., & Huang, X. (2005). Evaluating the credibility of scholarly information on the Web: A cross cultural study. International Information & Library Review, 37, 99–106.

McCroskey, J. C., & Young, T. J. (1981). Ethos and credibility: The construct and its measurement after three decades. The Central States Speech Journal, 32, 24–34.

Metzger,M.J.(2007). Making Sense of Credibility on the Web: Models for Evaluating Online Information and Recommendations for Future Research. the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 58(13) , 2078–2091

Metzger, M.J.; Flanagin, A.J. & Zwarun, L. (2003). Student Internet use, perceptions of information credibility, and verification behavior. Computers & Education, 41, 271–290

Petty, R. E. & Cacioppo, J. T. (1986). The elaboration likelihood model of persuasion. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 19, 123–205.

Rieh, S. Y. (2002). Judgment of information quality and cognitive authority in the Web. Journalof the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 53, 145–161.

Rieh, S. Y. & Belkin, N. J. (1998). Understanding judgment of information quality and cognitive authority in the WWW. Proceedings of the ASIS Annual Meeting, 35, 279–289

Rieh, S. Y. & Danielson, D. R. (2007). Credibility: A multidisciplinary framework. In B. Cronin (Ed.), Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (Vol. 41, pp. 307-364). Medford, NJ: Information Today

Sanderz, M., Lewis, P. & Thornhill, A (1997). Research Methods for business students.pitman publishing.

Sundar, S. S. (2008). Technology and credibility: Cognitive heuristics cued by modality, agency, interactivity and navigability. In M. Metzger & A. Flanagin (Eds.), Digital media, youth, and credibility. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning (pp. 73–100). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Taylor, R. S. (1986). Value-added processes in information systems. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

Tseng, S., & Fogg, B. J. (1999). Credibility and computing technology. Communications of the ACM, 42(5), 39–44.

Wathen, C. N., & Burkell, J. (2002). Believe it or not: Factors influencing credibility on he Web. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 53, 134– 144

Wilson, P. (1983). Second-hand knowledge: An inquiry into cognitive authority. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.