Evaluating_Language_Resources_on_the_Internet _1_

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							LINGUISTICS.com:
Evaluating Language
Resources on the Internet

  Adams Bodomo
  Department of Linguistics
  The University of Hong Kong
  abbodomo@hku.hk
  14 December 2001
    Introduction
   The Internet
        A massive surge of the internet and allied Information
         and Communication Technologies (ICTs)
        a powerful tool for research analysis, dissemination,
         and documentation
   Aim
        To examine how the Internet can be used as a useful
         source of information for learning and doing research
         about language and linguistics




    14 December 2001           ILEC2001                      2
Internet               Webpage
                 URL

BASIC TERMS
          Homepage
  HTML     Hypertext
Website                  HTTP
            WWW
   Internet
       ‘a worldwide network of interconnected networks, connected
        together using recognized standards to enable electronic
        communication and the exchange of information’(Cooke 1999:155)
   HTTP – Hypertext Transfer Protocol
   Hypertext
       Contains cross-references or links to different parts of the same
        page or to different pages
   HTML: Hypertext Markup Language
   WWW: World Wide Web
   URL: Uniform (or Universal) Resource Locator
   Website: a collection of linked HTML
   Webpage: an individual HTML page
   Homepage: the opening of any site on the WWW

    14 December 2001                ILEC2001                                4
LANGUAGE
WEBSITES
What is a language website?
 A collection of linked html pages available via
  the World Wide Web for the purpose of
  providing information about some aspects of
  language and linguistics
 Authors:
       Individuals or groups of linguists or other language
        experts and enthusiasts
   Example: the Linguist List
       http://www.linguistlist.org


14 December 2001             ILEC2001                      6
                          E-journals
  E-books
                   Bibliographies
TYPES OF
LANGUAGE WEBSITES
                       E-libraries
E-dictionaries
             Online Language Courses
    Language and Linguistic
    Association websites
 Linguist List (http://www.linguistlist.org)
 Linguistic Society of Hong Kong
    (http://www.hku.hk/linguist/lshk)
   Linguistic Society of America (LSA)
    (http://www.lsadc.org)
   Linguistics Association of the Great Britain (LAGB)
    (http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/aboutlag.htm)




    14 December 2001         ILEC2001                8
    University and Institutional
    Departmental websites
   HKU Department of Linguistics
    (http://www.hku.hk/linguist)
   Stanford University Department of Linguistics
    (http://www-linguistics.stanford.edu)
   NTNU Department of Linguistics
    (http://www.ling.hf.ntnu.no/index_en.php )
   University of Ghana Department of Linguistics
    (http://www.ug.edu.gh/pages/lingdept.htm)




    14 December 2001        ILEC2001                9
 Theoretical Linguistics websites
 LFG (http://www-lfg.stanford.edu/lfg/)
 HPSG (http://hpsg.stanford.edu)
 Minimalism
    (http://www.minimalism.linguistics.arizona.edu/)
   OT-LFG
    (http://www-lfg.stanford.edu/lfg/ot-lfg/ot-lfg.html)
   GB
    (http://www.jtauber.com/linguistics/synthinar/)



 14 December 2001          ILEC2001                    10
     Dictionary and Glossary websites (e-
     dictionaries and e-glossaries)
 SIL Linguistic Glossary
  (http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/)
 Oxford English Dictionary (OED Oniline)
  (http://www.oed.com)
 Cobuild (http://titania.cobuild.collins.co.uk/)
 Merriam Webster
    (http://www.m-w.com/dictionary.htm)
   Web of Online Dictionaries
    (http://www.yourdictionary.com)


     14 December 2001                 ILEC2001                  11
    Individual or Language Group
    (Grammar) websites
 Chinese
  (http://pears.lib.ohio-state.edu/China/linguist.html)
 Japanese
  (http://www.twics.com/~kenbutle/learning_japanese.htm)
 French
  (http://rylibweb.man.ac.uk/data1/ir/info/french.html)
 English
  (http://www.chompchomp.com/)
 Swahili
  (http://www.yale.edu/swahili/)
 Dagaare
  (http://www.hku.hk/linguist/staff/_ab.DagaareProficient.html)

    14 December 2001             ILEC2001                         12
     Online Language and
     Linguistic Course websites
 WebCT course websites
  (http://ecourse.hku.hk:8900)
 Let’s Speak Dagaare
    (http://www.hku.hk/linguist/staff/_ab.DagaareProficient.html)
   Online phonology course
    (http://www.stir.ac.uk/epd/celt/staff/higdox/stephen/phono/phonolg.htm)
   Internet Grammar of English
    (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/home.htm)



     14 December 2001               ILEC2001                           13
Bibliographical Databases
   Bibliography of Dagaare Studies
    (http://www.hku.hk/linguist/staff_ab.DagaareBibliog.html)
   Lexical-Functional Grammar
    (http://www-lfg.stanford.edu/lfg/bibliography.html)
   Chinese studies
    (http://deall.ohio-state.edu/chan.9/g-bib.htm#c-bib)
   (others: see Linguist list)




14 December 2001             ILEC2001                       14
E-linguistic resource websites:
e-libraries
   The World-Wide Web Virtual Library:
    Linguistics
    (http://www.emich.edu/~linguist/www-vl.html)
   Linguistics bookshelf
(http://www.sil.org/lingualinks/Linguist.html)
   Lancaster University Library
    (http://libweb.lancs.ac.uk/g47.htm)
   UCLA Library Collections and Internet
    Resources in General Linguistics
 (http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/url/colls/ling)

14 December 2001            ILEC2001                      15
E-linguistic resource websites:
e-books / e-encyclopedia

 MSN Encarta
   (http://encarta.msn.com/)
 Encyclopedia.com
   (http://www.encyclopedia.com)




14 December 2001    ILEC2001       16
    E-linguistic resource websites:
    e-journals
   Language and linguistic science Electronic
    Journals
    (http://www.york.ac.uk/services/library/ejournal/linguist.htm)
   Penn Library: Electronic Journals
    (http://www.library.upenn.edu/webbin5/resources/ejspublic5.cgi?home
    page=http://www.library.upenn.edu/&community=Linguistics)
 UM Library: Electronic Journals & Newspapers
  (http://www.lib.umich.edu/ejournals/lists/lingui.html)
 UCL Library: Linguistics Internet resources
    (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/Resources/Arts/phonling.htm)
   Journal of Dagaare Studies
    (http://www.hku.hk/linguist/staff_ab.DagaareJournal.html)

    14 December 2001               ILEC2001                          17
DESIGNING
LANGUAGE WEBSITES
Designing a language website
 Design           of website:
     The   creation of a website and the
       subsequent arrangement and
       rearrangement of its contents
A  good design of a language website
  depends on how adept we are at
  manipulating the technology involved
  and how artistically sophisticated we are

14 December 2001            ILEC2001        19
Tools for creating language
websites
 Hypertext
 HTML  editors
 WYSIWYG-editors
 Netscape Communicator
 Dreamweaver
 Microsoft Frontpage
 WebCT


14 December 2001   ILEC2001   20
Creating a webpage by using
Microsoft Frontpage editor
 What        do you need?
     The editor: Microsoft Frontpage
     The software for uploading your pages (e.g.
      CuteFTP, WsFTP)
     A server for storing your pages (e.g.
      YahooGeocities)
     Pedagogical tools
            Web-based course tool e.g. WebCT


14 December 2001           ILEC2001             21
HOW TO EVALUATE A
WEBSITE
Searching for websites
 Evaluating a website begins with locating it
  on the internet
 Search engines
       Excite (http://www.excite.com)
       Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com)
       Alta Vista (http://www.altavista.com)
       Google (meta-search engine)
        (http://www.google.com)
       WebCrawler (meta-search engine)
        (http://www.webcrawler.com)


14 December 2001            ILEC2001             23
Criteria for Evaluating a
Language Website (Cooke 1999, Alexander and Tate 1999)
                                   CURRENCY
    Authority                     AUTHORITY
                            •Are there dates on the page to indicate
                            •Is it clear who is responsible for the contents
                            •When the page was written?
                            of the page?
    Accuracy               •When the page was first placed on the Web?
                            •Is ACCURACY a page describing the
                                 there a link to
                            •Whensources for any factual information
                         •Are the the page was last revised?
                            purpose of the sponsoring organization?
    Objectivity            •Are listed? other indications
                                          any
                         clearly there way (and INTENDED that the of
                            •Is there a
                               COVERAGE of verifying the legitimacy
                                 OBJECTIVITY
                            material is kept current? grammatical,  AUDIENCE)
                         •Is the an indication that the page has been
                            the page's sponsor? from
                       •Is thereinformation free That is, is there a phone
                              the information provided as a public
                        •Isnumber or postal typographical errors? more
                            •If material is presented in graphs and/or
    Currency            spelling, and other address to contact for
                       completed,is it clearly stated when the data was
                                             is not still under construction?
                        service? andof(Simplynot emailindicatethelack
                            charts,
                         (These kinds under construction, is a
                       •If the page is stillerrors an only address is not
                            information?
    Coverage            of gathered?
                        •Isenough). of completion of advertising?
                             quality control, but free indicated?
                              the information is published produce
                       expectedinformation can actuallyin different
                            •If the date in information).
                         inaccuracies
                        •If •Is it is a iswho wrotelabeledthe Web page,
                             there isprint advertisingwhat and are is
                                                        the to
                       •If there clear anyequivalent materialthepage,the
                            editions,who clearly ultimate on edition the
                                           it has the
                                clear qualifications whether     responsibility
                         •Isitita clear differentiated from the topic
                        is author'sfrom?
                       there clearlyindication of for writing onentire this
                            pageaccuracy of the content of the material?
                                    is
                         for is stated? the Web or only parts of   the
                       worktheavailable content? work which is outit?
                            clearly
                        informational          on
                                     material is from a
                            •If the are charts and/or graphs containing of
                             there
                         •If•If intended audience for the copyright, is the
                       •Is thethe material is protected bymaterial clear?
                            copyright (as are the charts and/or graphs
                                              is often
                         statistical data,copyrightthe case with a
                            name of the                   holder given?
                            dictionary or thesaurus) has there been an
                         clearly labeled and easy to read?
   14 December 2001         effort to update the material to make it more24
                             ILEC2001
Further Criteria (Bodomo 2001)
   Evidence of Patronage
       How many ‘customers’ patronise a website
   Evidence of Collaboration / Corroboration
       Whether the author(s) collaborate with other
        linguists and language experts in that area of
        language and linguistics
   Multilingual Retrievability
       Related to online dictionaries/glossaries




14 December 2001            ILEC2001                     25
       An Optimal Model for Language Website Evaluation
       - e.g. Online English language learning
                     Criterion ACC ATH OBJ CUR        COV   PAT COL MR Ranked
Candidate website                                                      Output
   Internet Grammar of                                                2
              English
  http://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-
              grammar/
           English4us                                                1
   http://www.english4us.com/
    English for Internet                                                  4
       http://www.study.com/
          BBC English                                                   3
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservic
         e/learningenglish/
             Key to abbreviations:
             ACC: Accuracy          COV: Coverage
             ATH: Authority         PAT: Evidence of Patronage
             OBJ: Objectivity       COL: Evidence of Collaboration
             CUR: Currency          MR: Multilingual Retrievability
         14 December 2001                ILEC2001                           26
Summary and Conclusion
 The web is an important source of data
 But the web can also contain a lot of
  inaccuracies and unethical material
 Hence the need for quality control and
  consequently evaluation
 In this paper we have provided information
  about language webpage creation before
  discussing criteria for Language webpage
  evaluation, ending up with proposals
  towards a model of language website
  evaluation.
14 December 2001    ILEC2001                   27
         References
   Alexander, Jan. E. and Marsha Ann Tate. 1996. Checklist for an Informational
    Web Page. USA: Wolfgram Memorial Library, Widener University. URL:
    http://www2.widener.edu/Wolfgram-Memorial-Library/webevaluation/inform.htm
   Alexander, Jan. E. and Marsha Ann Tate. 1999. Web Wisdom: How to
    Evaluate and Create Information Quality on the Web. New Jersey: Lawrence
    Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers.
   Bodomo, A. B. 2001. How to design and evaluation quality language
    websites. Ms, University of Hong Kong.
   Cooke, Alison. 1999. Authoritative Guide to Evaluating Information on the
    Internet. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc.
   Grassian, Esther. 1997. Thinking Critically about Discipline-based World Wide
    Web Resources. USA: UCLA College Library. Available URL:
    http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/help/critical/discipline.htm
   Kapoun, Jim. 1998. Teaching Undergrads Web Evluation: A Guide for Library
    Instruction. URL: http://www.ala.org/acrl/undwebev.html
   Landsberger, Joe. 2000 Evaluating Website Content. URL:
    http://www.iss.stthomas.edu/webtruth/evaluate.htm
   Skillman & Kirby Libraries. 2000. Evaluating Websites for Academic Use.
    URL: http://ww2.lafayette.edu/~library/guides/evaluating.html
   Wolinsky, Art. 1999. Locating and Evaluating Information on the Internet. USA:
    Enslow Publishers, Inc. URL: http://www.enslow.com/InternetLib.htm
     Referencing Internet Resources
   Many different accepted formats
   Information to be included for citing web resources
      Name(s) of author(s)
      Date/year of publication
      Title of the website/webpage
      Date of retrieval/access
      URL i.e. the address of the document
   Useful resources:
      Electronic Reference Formats Recommended by the American
        Psychological Association (http://www.apa.org/journals/webref.html)
      MLA Style: How do I document sources from the World Wide Web
        in my works-cited list?
        (http://www.mla.org/www_mla_org/style/style_main.asp?level=2&mode=page&pa
        ge=1&link=sty72800121438&section=sty51800124510 )
      Evaluating and Citing Web Resources for Research (HKUST)
        (http://library.ust.hk/serv/lin/evaluate-cite.html)
     14 December 2001                ILEC2001                               29