The credibility of Internet information is a crucial problem. While the credibility of Information in general is an issue, the Internet presents a new set of challenges. Today the public is expected to book their own airline tickets, decide on their own retirement plan, even decide on life and death medical treatments with the tools and information on the web. With a disappearing paper trail in voting, with no one official copy of government documents, with a lack of common criteria in presenting and consuming credible information there is a great need to research and develop real tools to help the citizen. Addressing these issues now, as tools are being developed and more critical information is becoming exclusively Internet information, will prevent larger and more dire consequences in the near and long-term future.

Over the past year, the MacArthur Foundation’s Applying Technology To Make A Difference Grant has funded the American Library Association’s Office of Information & Technology Policy and the Information School at the University of Washington amongst other institutions to investigate the issues of credibility of Internet information. The purpose of this exploration was to determine the scope of the problem, determine the existing state of knowledge in the area, and develop practical next steps in addressing issues of the credibility of Internet information. These activities included: writing a series of white papers on tools, skills and institutions; a symposium of experts in the area; tool development; and a series of follow-up meetings.

Major findings of this work include:

• The issue of credibility on Internet information is a tractable problem that can be addressed through research, tool development and education.
• There is a lack of concrete solutions (tools and educational materials) available on the Internet.
• Users rarely have the motivation or skills to fully explore the credibility of Internet information, though Internet tools can be designed to improve this situation.

The overall conclusion of the initial work was that the credibility of Internet information is a tractable problem given an ongoing effort between industry, government, nonprofits, and education.

A Proposed Solution

The authors propose the creation of a “Credibility Commons” to address these findings, and further an agenda of addressing the credibility of Internet information. The Commons is seen as a locus of a much wider and diffuse effort. It seeks to create awareness of the issue, an empirical basis for action in the area of credibility, and tools to improve a users ability to determine the credibility of information in their given context.

The commons shall have three primary components:

• Research: a series of studies the span individual credibility behaviors to collaborative group credibility actions. These research activities are tied to an ongoing coherent research agenda. Research takes data from external studies, information from public use of credibility tools and the evolving capabilities of Internet tools.
• Tools: The Credibility Commons should work with developers and information providers regardless of industry sector or commercial status to incorporate new credibility tools and mechanisms into a wide array of information products. The commons shall facilitate translating the research of leading scholars and organizations into real tools and mechanisms.
• Public: All tools and research of the commons shall have validation in real use. A major component of the Commons shall be a public Internet presence with tools, tutorials, research reports, consumer guides, and means of taking in user feedback.

The Commons is envisioned as an open effort task. An open effort, not only are tools and products made widely available through Creative Commons licensing, but the very process of idea generation is open and transparent as well. The process shall be supported by community contributions of time, money and other in-kind efforts. The boundaries of the organization must become porous with team members coming from multiple agencies, and means of support. The point of this approach is to maximize reputation and impact over short-term market advantage that can create the impression of bias, and proprietary competition. Software, findings and other means of intellectual property while retained by the Commons, are made freely available to causes directly in-line with the mission of the Commons, and used to support the greater activities through monetary license to commercial entities.

There is no question that the Internet has become more present in our everyday life. Further, industry, government and the country’s vital institutions are expecting users to be more self-servicing and more self-informing. In this environment credibility of information is the critical factor for success, health and well-being. Investment into and active development and research agenda in credibility is necessary, timely and likely to result in tangible improvement. By investing time, effort and money now, key institutions in commerce, governance, and information providers can assure continued advancement on the Internet.

Find out more about the people behind the Credibility Commons.