Reading Activity 2

Foster, A. L. (2007). Information Navigation 101. Chronicle Of Higher Education, 53(27), A38-A40.

Bauerlein, M. (2012). Authority Figures. Chronicle of Higher Education, 58(30), B4-B5

This article focuses on student not having the ability to use anything other than the internet for research projects.  Suellen Cox makes a bold claim that students are not able to tell the difference between infomercials on websites from facts. Another major concern of librarians and professors is students only use a few limited sources all being websites and no print material.  Not only should students use the web they should also use encyclopedias and scholarly journals.  “All of us are now going to the internet because it is convenient”.  This is a very good point but is also too extreme of a statement.  Yes many students use the internet as a first source but it is just to get a broad sense of the topic.  If I do not know what my topic is on, I’ll refer to Wikipedia or Google to get a general sense of the subject then research from there.  After asking many of my fellow peers I found that it is too much of a hassle to go to the library and look up a book, find the book, and find the matter in the book just to get a general knowledge of the matter. 

            Many universities are teaching classes on literacy and how to find non-electronic sources in the library.  Vanderbilt chancellor thinks students have too much information to choose from and are just overwhelmed when it comes to research.  A 1994 study showed that only twenty-two percent of universities offered instruction on finding sources in the library and now almost every college does.  ICT literacy assessment gave a seventy five minute test offered at two levels to see how students access data and sources, the conclusion was many students were not prepared for college work and research assignments.  In my opinion, students who were not required to do research projects in high school are not prepared to do college assignments.  I also believe students rely on Internet sources because this is the age of procrastination and it is the quickest way to get sufficient information.

Michael Petrilli did a study where he took one hundred terms from US history and searched them in google, the result was Wikipedia popped up over eighty seven times and had an article on every subject searched.  More and more students turn to online encyclopedias for research information when most do not know they are monitored and edited by their peers.   Petrilli believes that students rely too heavily on Wikipedia when it is not always credible.  Since anyone can edit the pages, any information can make it on the site true or not.  In my opinion this is not true in the slightest, many Internet users strive on their page edits on Wikipedia claiming to have thousands of edits.  While Wikipedia is easily accessible and easy to edit the sheer number of people checking up on the pages almost completely limits the room for false information.  While Wikipedia in its early stages may have been an uncredible source it is now widely used and supported.              

The three criteria that I use to evaluate information are what type of source it is, say journal, website, book, or advertisement on television.  Second how old the source is; if it is up to date, I believe it is more credible than a source that was last updated in 2003.  Finally, if there are references at the bottom of the page, because in this day in age fact is not longer ones own information but more likely an interpretation of someone else’s work.  With all these things considered I believe I can sufficiently tell if an article or site is credible or ones opinion.