Using Information (Edexcel IGCSE ICT)

Evaluating information

How can you evaluate information?

• To evaluate information you check it is fit for purpose

• To be fit for purpose you check a sources:

  • Accuracy

  • Age

  • Relevance

  • Reliability

  • Bias

Understanding copyright & plagiarism

What is copyright?

• Copyright is covered under a law called the Copyright Designs & Patents Act

• This protects the intellectual property of an individual or a company

• It makes it illegal to copy, modify or distribute software or other intellectual property without the relevant permission

• If original work is original, copyright will be automatically applied and will not expire until 25 - 70 years from the death of the creator depending on the type of work

• If an individual believes that their work has been copied it is their responsibility to take action under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act

• Many sites online offer free downloads of copyrighted software/videos which prevents the intellectual copyright holder from earning their income on the work they have created

  • E.g. If someone downloaded videos from Netflix and shared them with others, they would be breaching the act

• The act covers videos and audio where peer-to-peer streaming prevents a copyright owner from receiving an income

What is plagiarism?

• Plagiarism is when someone presents information or ideas from another source as their own, without giving credit to the original author

• This can be done intestinally and unintentionally

• They may also try to claim it as their own

• A common example of digital plagiarism is copying and pasting from the internet

• If someone uses another persons information and fails to state who it belongs to they are breaking their rights and committing plagiarism

• To avoid plagiarism a user should rewrite or rephrases information

• This shows you have read and understood information but can put it in your own words

• To avoid plagiarism always state where the information came from, this can include the authors name or URL it was found on