As the Internet continues to grow, users are increasingly faced with the problem of evaluating the trustworthiness of Web sites. This paper presents the results of two studies conducted to determine how people approach this situation. The researchers "gathered the comments people wrote…about each site's credibility and analyzed these comments to track which features of a Web site were noticed (or...

In November, the Urban Libraries Council released data from a national telephone survey examining correlations between public library use and Internet use. In general, the study finds that Internet use is not discouraging people from using their public libraries, though it is clear that for some tasks, the Internet is preferred by a majority of respondents. The report also gives information...

In August 2000 UCLA's Center for Communications Policy released a brief excerpt of their report forthcoming in October 2000. "Surveying the Digital Future," funded by "an unprecedented alliance of corporations and foundations," is part of the World Internet Project, a series of international studies, which aims to give a vision of the Internet's worldwide impact. This initial release, which shows...

Recently released, this report from the US Internet Council (USIC) and International Technology & Trade Associates, Inc. (ITTA) offers an "overview of recent Internet trends and examines how the Internet is affecting both business and social relationships around the world." This year's report pays special attention to the increasingly international nature of the Internet and the rapid emergence of...

Released February 2001 by the General Accounting Office (GAO), this new report finds that the "digital divide" is shrinking as more Americans gain access to the Internet, but disparities persist. Whites are still more likely than minorities to have Internet access, and wealthier Americans are much more likely to have expensive high-speed connections than those in lower-income brackets. On the...