Whale of a Web authenticity instruction story

[Richard Wiggins]

For those who labor to teach library patrons "Don't just trust what you find
on the Web" here's a great tale:
----
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

November 17, 2002

Muskegon, Mich. - Teacher Deb Harris could hardly believe what she was
reading to her fourth-grade class. Whales in Lake Michigan?
...
Harris called Utah-based Studies Weekly Inc., which puts out the teaching
aid, and she said an editor stood behind the story.  

----

Studies Weekly later retracted the story, with this explanation:

http://www.ushistoryteacher.com/whale.html

The original source was a farcical Web site of a provider of Lake Michigan
tours:

http://www.geocities.com/lakemichiganwhales/

[Hmmm.  Citing a Geocities-hosted source in a curriculum guide.  Clue!]

Here's the AP article:

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-uswhal173006703nov17,0,4384126.story?coll=ny-nationalnews-print

or:

http://tinyurl.com/2rth

/rich

____________________________________________________
Richard Wiggins
Writing, Speaking, and Consulting on Internet Topics
rich at richardwiggins.com       www.richardwiggins.com