Finding Expertise: Face to Face vs. The Web

In face to face settings, my notion of expertise relies on the source. When someone is telling me information, I want to know the source of the information and how this person became knowledgeable on the subject. Some people I know are continually reliable sources of information, but I still tend to ask questions in order to understand their viewpoints. For example, when I was purchasing a new car, my father strongly recommended that I consider a Hyundai. I know that he is a diligent researcher, subscribes to Consumer Reports and is particularly knowledgeable about cars. But, I still asked him to tell me why. He gave me good information that helped me appreciate this expertise.
Another aspect of expertise is the point of view and the intention for providing information. When my father recommended a car, I knew that he was giving me this information as my father and his intention was for me to have a safe and reliable car. However, if the same information had come from a car dealer, I don’t think that I would have given it as much weight.
Having a personal relationship with experts on the Web is virtually impossible. (Pun intentional.) When I visit sites like blogs and wikis it is difficult to know the source and what makes that person an expert. In this case, I am more critical of the information. I will check two other sites to compare and verify the information. With certain types of research, this can really slow you down when you come across incorrect information or information that is incapable of being verified. When we learned about Sacajawea last year, we found numerous birthdates and dates of death. One site claimed that she had lived to a healthy old age while another claimed that she had died in her early 20’s.
Certain sites are managed by reputable organizations and the same face to face notion of expertise is applicable, like the Center for Disease Control and New York Times. Peer reviewed sites, like Wikipedia, can be considered reliable because they are checked and verified by so many people. My brother, who is beginning his 2nd year of medical school at UF, told me that as a student he uses Wikipedia, but when he is a doctor, he will depend on other sources. I had assumed that he would have a lot of reliable sites for medical information that he and his classmates referred to, but he told me that since Wikipedia is heavily reviewed, it reliable. He compared his notes to entries and they were in sync.