The original version of this document was written by Alan November for the September 1998 edition of High School Principal Magazine. The original online version of this article can be found on the Educational Renaissance Planners Web site.Adapted with permission.

__________________ 

As more and more students access the Internet for research, it's essential that they learn how to validate online information. The Internet is a place where you can find "proof" of essentially any belief system that you can imagine. And, for too many students, "If it's on the Internet, it must be true."

The following story is also true.

Fourteen year old Zack was asked to research a unique topic for his history class. Zack knew a bit about using reliable sources on the Internet, so when he found some information on a Web page on the Northwestern University site he felt sure that he had found a reliable source of information for his project. The topic was unique too—Holocaust Revisionism—Zack had never heard of that before, so he decided to write his history paper on "How the Holocaust Never Happened."

Zack found his "information" from a Web page at http://pubweb.northwestern.edu/~abutz/ (no longer at this URL), titled "Home Web Page of Arthur R. Butz." On his low-key home page, Butz explained that he wrote "A short introduction to the study of Holocaust revisionism" and that his material was intended for "advanced students of Holocaust revisionism." At the top of the page Butz identified himself as "Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Northwestern University."

His article began with the following:

I see three principal reasons for the widespread but erroneous belief in the legend of millions of Jews killed by the Germans during World War II: 


US and British troops found horrible piles of corpses in the west German camps they captured in 1945 ..., there are no longer large communities of Jews in Poland, and historians generally support the legend. 

During both world wars Germany was forced to fight typhus, carried by lice ... that is why all accounts of entry into the German concentration camps speak of shaving of hair and showering and other delousing procedures, such as treatment of quarters with the pesticide Zyklon. That was also the main reason for a high death rate in the camps, and the crematoria ... 

Look at the above situation from the perspective of a 14-year-old, untrained to think critically about information. He's researching the Holocaust, and suddenly finds this Web page. His teacher told him to find a unique topic, and this certainly fit the bill. The page is simple and clear. It's written in a calm, logical tone. The page is clearly intended for experts in its field. Best of all is the source: Northwestern University! And a professor to boot! Perfect.

Or is it?

Outline some of the methods Zack could have used to critically evaluate the information that he found on Professor Butz's Web page. What clues may have indicated that this Web page wasn't as reliable a source of information as it initially appeared to be?

Check Your Answers

Click here for some suggestions and strategies to help Zack verify the information that he has found.