[11580] in Public-Access_Computer_Systems_Forum
Re: The Web and Research Papers
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Andre Gionet)
Tue Aug 19 20:33:08 1997
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 1997 11:48:14 -0500
From: Andre Gionet <agionet@nucleus.com>
To: PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU
Reply-To: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU>
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
I did not have the chance to read the article by David Rothenberg in the =
Chronicle of Higher Education ("How the Web destroys the Quality of =
Students' Research Papers"). However, it drove me to some reflections. =
I suspect that Mr. Rothenberg does not understand the kind of =
constraints in which libraries have to operate (budgets, space, =
publications explosion, etc.). I also suspect that he has nostalgia for =
the old-fashionned encyclopedic library, filled with The Classics =
(whatever they are), with a strong bias towards philosophy. =20
On one hand, our users want access to all the knowledge of the world. =
Yet, they expect libraries to be book repositories. Electronic =
publications (CD-ROMs, GUI online service) are compact and readily =
accessible. A subscription to an online vendor costs barely more than =
subscribing to 100 scholarly periodicals. Printed publications need =
space for storage and labour for filing; electronic documents don't. =20
And regarding the quality of students' papers, I don't see any need for =
alarm. "Cut and paste"? And what about quotations? Aren't they a =
little bit like cutting and pasting portions of a text? Also, I don't =
see how a freshman, with no background knowledge of a field and its =
methodologies, could do the same kind of work than a master's student =
who is picking up a specialty in a field. =20
As for reading books, you have to face that it has always been a long =
term assignment. I don't think that you can read a 600-page book the =
same way that you can read a 12-page article. In my school days, I =
referred to books to get an overview of a topic with which I was not =
familiar. Periodicals were a priviledged source for more in-depth =
knowledge on aspects of a subject or an issue. =20
I think the real issue is to provide students with the intellectual =
"shields" to enable them to evaluate what is quality versus rubbish =
information. And this is an issue that has been treated many times in =
the literature about end-user training... =20
Andre Gionet
Calgary, Alberta
agionet@nucleus.com
