Reading #5

"Information Navigation 101" by Andrea L. Foster.
Chronicle of Higher Education (3/9/2007)


The article "Information Navigation 101," by Andrea L. Foster, brings up the point that although this generation of undergraduates consistently use technology, we may not be as tech savvy as we think. It states that for collegiate research, students rely on Google or Wikipedia moreover peer-reviewed sources. Foster says that all of the information we recieve online is confusing students, and beceause there is so many resources, "students are drowning information." Because of this, at colleges all over the country, librarians are finding methods to instruct the students to become more "information literate," or "more adept at locating and evaulating electronic data." The vice president of Educause -- "a higher learning technology consortium" --says that everyone uses the Internet because of its convenience, but it is important that our research skills stay effective. Foster later points out that most every university library in the country now offers information literacy courses/help, or they are mandatory.


In my experience, it's no surprise that students in general use Google and Wikipedia as their main source of information during academic research. In most of the technical English classes that I've taken, that requires verifying names, spelling, translations, etc. my professors encouraged the use of Google in class. I think it's great that so many universities offer courses trying to help students become "information literate," because students primarily use Google and Wikipedia because of their accessibility. But if they're aware that they can retrieve more relevant information elsewhere, hopefully they will apply the few extra mouse-clicks, seconds of reading/typing to get it. I also think it is great that so many colleges are requiring that students are trained to become "more adept at locating and evaulating electronic data," because I feel that they aren't aware that there are better methods of getting information, or they are aware, but they just don't have any idea how to retrieve it. However, I think that when it comes to scholarly research, simple search engines like Google will always dominate in numbers, because it is easy and people can be lazy. It's why Dan Brown, Danielle Steel, or Dean Koontz novels will always be on the best-seller list -- there are plenty of books that would probably be a more rewarding read to the consumers, but it is a safe bet. People get drive-thru fast food, or delivery, when they could eat a more healthful meal for just as cheap if they just made it themselves, but they don't. It's no different than the methods of how Americans get their information.