Secondary Education: Researching the Holocaust Through iconn Presented by Nick Wharton University of Hartford Libraries

Research: How students get into trouble and how they can avoid it Google Wikipedia Worldwide Web untrustworthy site Worldwide Web trusted site Searching for reliable information: e.g. iconn.org

Google Google is a search tool that harnesses web information by searching a complex algorithm to show you its “best” returns for your particular search. Google offers quick access to unvetted information. Google is not smart enough to bring back the best information only the most likely pages for the words searched. Usually offers access to websites that may or may not be helpful or useful. Useful articles are not normally returned by Google searches.

Wikipedia Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia. Calls itself, the free Encyclopedia that anyone can edit. Editorial irregularities exist due to the “free” editing by anyone. Unreliable information, although sources for each article may be useful for an overview or quick information about a topic.

Worldwide Web Untrustworthy Site

Google search: Holocaust Hoax Top result: Is the Holocaust a Hoax? Is the Holocaust a Hoax? Who is the author? None named Who is the sponsor? Biblebelivers.org What is the focus of their website? Faith in Jesus Christ as our savior

Problems with site No known author, actually, no author, although other author’s works are represented looking like scholarship. Presentation of scholarship based on hearsay and unsubstantiated facts. To get the real substantiated answers, one must send a letter to INSTITUTE FOR HISTORICAL REVIEW, /2 Newport Blvd., Suite 191, Costa Mesa CA No link to information about the owner of the website.

Unreliable website Site has no author control. The ownership of the site is difficult to locate, if not impossible. The site offers no “About” page or any information about the organization that hosts the website. This is an unreliable sponsoring website, and makes the information from the hosted site suspicious.

Worldwide Web Trustworthy Site

Reliable Website Example Holocaust Holocaust History & Facts | USHMM.org – Who is the governing organization? United States Holocaust Memorial Museum – Is there a link to information about the website sponsor of the information? Yes (see next slide) – Is the organization reliable? In this case it is the website of a highly respected non- profit museum. Information is from a published Encyclopedia about the Holocaust.

Holocaust History & Facts | USHMM.org

Searching for Reliable Information: e.g. iconn.org

iconn Searching (i.e. more trusted searching) Freely available to all Connecticut Residents. Offers indexed information in article, chapter or book format on your topic. Sources are generally more reliable than random web searching. Easy to use: basic searching resembles that of Google or other search engines.

Number of Results: kristallnacht iconn search Results by Resource: by Group Combined Searching Nursing & PsychologyNursing & Psychology 00 Magazines and Journals Academic OneFileAcademic OneFile PowerSearchPowerSearch Newspapers Gale Newspaper Collection 690 Gale Newspaper Collection690 Hartford Courant (ProQuest)Hartford Courant (ProQuest) 6464 London Times (Gale)London Times (Gale) 00 Wall Street Journal (ProQuest)Wall Street Journal (ProQuest) 00 Business and Law ABI/Inform Global 374 ABI/Inform Global374 Find Books, DVDs and More (reQuest) Statewide Library Catalog (reQuest) 80 Statewide Library Catalog (reQuest)80

Results from basic iconn search Over 1,500 results were located. Over 500 Academic articles located. Over 700 Newspaper articles. 80 books, DVD’s or other materials located. Some Full Text

iconn Article Record from Academic onefile

Choose Advanced Search Tab Add other words to your search. Add qualifiers: – Limit by Year – Limit by Material Type (e.g. books, maps, serials) – Limit by Language Choose other Databases available from iconn. – Try World History in Context

List of all databases available through iconn with History and Biography checked.

Results from the History and Biography Databses History and Biography Hartford Courant - Historical 0 Hartford Courant - Historical0 U.S. History in ContextU.S. History in Context 2121 World History in ContextWorld History in Context 1717 Connecticut History OnlineConnecticut History Online 00 Biography In ContextBiography In Context 1515

Why use iconn as a research tool? Free to Connecticut Residents and all Connecticut students Easy to search Reliable information from several resources Many articles Full Text Assists in curricular compliance as a reliable discovery tool Myriad of indexes on many subjects

Conclusions Searching for information can be a difficult task for today’s student Quick searches on the web result in information overload or unreliable information. A directed search through reliable sources, such as iconn, offers reliable sources in various formats that are teacher approved.

Resources Google - google.com Wikipedia - wikipedia.org iconn - iconn.org The Connecticut Consortium for Holocaust and Genocide Education University of Hartford Research Guides: Teaching about the Holocaust and Genocide de.asp?subject=Teaching%20about%20the%20Ho locaust%20and%20Genocide