Apologies for cross postings

NEWS RELEASE
For immediate release:  13th June 2006

INTERNET DETECTIVE - BACK ON THE CASE

Internet Detective, a free online tutorial designed to help students develop
the critical thinking required for their Internet research, is being
launched on the Web on June 13th in the RDN Virtual Training Suite at:

http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/detective/ 

The tutorial offers practical advice on evaluating the quality of websites
and highlights the need for care when selecting online information sources
to inform university or college work.

"Students are increasingly turning to the Internet to find information for
their coursework or assignments, but they can be naive in the sources they
choose.  There is concern among lecturers and librarians that students often
degrade their work by referencing inappropriate information sources and by
failing to use the key scholarly materials that they should be using." 
(Emma Place, University of Bristol, co- author of Internet Detective).

The tutorial adopts a film noir detective metaphor to offer a light-hearted
guide to developing Internet skills to help with studying and research.  It
takes around an hour to complete and is divided into the following five
sections:

- What's the Story? - aims to help students recognize the need to develop
advanced Internet skills for university and college work

- The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - explains why information quality is an
issue on the web, especially for academic research, and raises awareness of
Internet hoaxes and scams

- Detective Work -gives hints and tips that help students evaluate
information found on the Internet.

- Get on the Case - enables students to try out their Internet Detective
skills with practical exercises

- Keep the Right Side of the Law - warns students about the dangers of
plagiarism, copyright and incorrect use of citations and referencing

Internet Detective was originally developed in 1998 with funding from the
European Union and was translated into a number of different languages by
national libraries and research organizations.  The original version was
withdrawn in 2005, but there was a high demand for its return, as issues of
information quality and overload on the Internet persist.

"We used the tutorial within the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) at
Manchester Metropolitan University and it has been very popular with tutors
from a range of subjects, including Information Science, Law, Science and
Engineering.  Our user-testing suggests the new tutorial will be useful for
students of all subjects new to studying at university level, or returning
to study after a break"  (Margaret Kendall, co-author of Internet Detective).

The new version, which is available on the Web or as a VLE download, is part
of the RDN Virtual Training Suite.  It has been developed by staff from ILRT
at the University of Bristol and the Manchester Metropolitan University with
funding from JISC, the HEFCE Learn Higher project (CETL) and the Higher
Education Academy Subject Centre for Information and Computer Sciences.

The tutorial is the first new initiative from Intute (currently known as the
RDN), which will be launched by JISC on July 13th as a national guide to the
best of the Web for education and research.

Internet Detective is free for everyone to access from:
http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/detective/ 




_____________________________________________________________

Emma Place, RDN Training Manager
Institute for Learning and Research Technology (ILRT)
University of Bristol, 8-10 Berkeley Square Bristol BS8 1HH
Tel: 0117 928 7183  Email: [log in to unmask] 

RDN Virtual Training Suite:
http://www.vts.rdn.ac.uk

The Artifact Team
Artifact - http://www.artifact.ac.uk/ 
-------------------------------------------
Please include Artifact in your links directory: 
'The best of the Web for the Arts and Creative Industries.'
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