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Title:
Web of Deception: Misinformation on the Internet
Review:
According to some, trouble comes to those who search for it.*
Experienced Web searchers can attest, however, that searching for it
is not necessarily required. Misinformation and deception will often
find you, even if you are not looking for them. "The Web of Deception:
Misinformation on the Internet" is about information on the Internet
that is intentionally wrong or misleading. In a collection of 11
essays, the contributors, so expertly selected by editor Anne Mintz,
explain how to recognize misinformation, how to avoid it, and what to
do if you are damaged by it. Since human creativity seems to know no
bounds, most Web surfers will sooner or later find trouble or be found
by it.
The topics addressed in "The Web of Deception" include web hoaxes,
corporate misinformation, medical misinformation, identity and privacy
issues, and charity scams. The chapters on legal issues include
advice on how to seek remedies for intentional misinformation. The
chapters on search engines and the interface between searchers and
search engines illuminate the opportunities to manipulate retrieved
results.
Each chapter includes instructive examples of deception and
consequences. Some would make the reader wonder, how could anyone
have ever believed that? For instance, a story attributed to the
Associated Press told of environmentalists putting bright orange
hunter's vests on deer in the state of Ohio, U.S. The idea was to
cause hunters to mistake the vested deer for humans and not shoot.
Although an anti-hunting association fabricated the story, it was
picked up and repeated by Fox News, ESPN.com and the Wall Street
Journal Online. More alarming stories tell of credit card fraud and
identity theft with the suggestion that Internet users guard their
privacy with encryption and common sense.
This book is useful to all searchers, and especially those who are in
a position to train others in Internet searching. All readers will be
educated in the pitfalls and hazards of the Web. Most readers will
find some chapters more relevant than others, but each chapter has at
least one nugget of truth to foster better, safer Web interactions
with strategies for avoiding the known pitfalls.
Forward by Steven Forbes. Contributors: Paul Piper, Susan Detwiler,
Helene Kassler, Stephen Arnold, Carol Ebbinghouse, Lysbeth Chuck,
LaJean Humphries, Susan Feldman, Elizabeth Liddy, Barbara Quint and
Anne Mintz.
*based on Proverbs 11:27
Free Pint Reviewer:
Cynthia Shamel owns and operates Shamel Information Services. She
serves as President Elect on the Board of Directors of the Association
of Independent Information Professionals (AIIP).
Cynthia specializes in the business of science and technology,
offering comprehensive online research services to companies in high
tech, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology. She has also written on
marketing information services and providing online reference service.
Cynthia will be representing AIIP at the Online Information UK meeting
in London. Stop by stand number 352 to say hello.
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