Reading Activity 4

When I start a research project, the first thing I do is preliminary research online to get a basic understanding of the topic.  After finding out initial background information, I continue to research but in more depth this time finding books, journals, and news articles.  The library offers many sources of help ranging from librarians to online tutorials on how to research. 

In Steven Bells article, “The Infodiet” the matter of student research strategies are discussed.  Bell believes that students no longer find credible information and produce less than par work.  He writes that students are over dependent on Google and other online search engines.  Students used to spend time in the library reading and researching while now some students have never even entered the library.  An idea proposed is to make academic search engines similar to Google so more students would use them.  With students ability to research on the decline librarians are needed now more than ever to help reverse this problem before it’s too late.  The solution many companies are taking is to change their interface to look more like Google with just one search box on the main screen.  In my own opinion, many students lack basic research skills that are needed to succeed in school, but not all students.  If this rate of decline continues it will only be a matter of time before basic research is too difficult for students to complete on their own and they will need the assistance of faculty and librarians.

“How College Students Evaluate and use Information in the Digital Age” is an article focusing on students ability to research and comprehend what they read.  Research shows that students tend to turn to friends and family when they cannot find information on a current event and faculty and teachers when they need help locating information on research topics in school.  The most difficult task for students surveyed was initial research and filtering through irrelevant information.  Many surveyed said their main concern was to finish the project and get a good grade ahead of learning new topics.  I think the main problem with students nowadays is not the inability to research but the lack of practice they have, many students can find current information because they do it on a daily basis while they only research scholarly two to three times a semester.  If schools focused more on research and how to find scholarly articles and journals students would find better sources when researching.