Secondary Education:Researching the Holocaust

Through iconn

Presented byNick 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?

www.biblebelievers.org.au/holohoax.htm

Who is the author? None namedWho is the sponsor? Biblebelivers.orgWhat 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, 1822 1/2 Newport Blvd., Suite 191, Costa Mesa CA 92627.

• No link to information about the owner of the website.

Unreliable websitewww.biblebelievers.org.au

• 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 ExampleHolocaust

• 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: kristallnachticonn search

Results by Resource: by GroupCombined Searching

Nursing & Psychology 0 Magazines and Journals

Academic OneFile 187 PowerSearch 137

NewspapersGale Newspaper Collection 690 Hartford Courant (ProQuest) 64London Times (Gale) 0Wall Street Journal (ProQuest) 0

Business and LawABI/Inform Global 374

Find Books, DVDs and More (reQuest)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 iconnwith History and Biography checked.

Results from the History and Biography Databses

• History and BiographyHartford Courant - Historical 0U.S. History in Context 21World History in Context 17Connecticut History Online 0Biography In Context 15

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 http://ctchged.wordpress.com/

• University of Hartford Research Guides:Teaching about the Holocaust and Genocide

http://library.hartford.edu/guides/editor/editguide.asp?subject=Teaching%20about%20the%20Holocaust%20and%20Genocide