Reading Report #2

Information Navigation 101
My generation is known for our tech savvy ways and as the Net Generation. We spend hours on our cell phone(not just talking), listening to our MP3 players, updating our facebooks, and surfing the Internet. However, most of the older generations argue that we rely too much on the Internet for scholarly information. Granted Google and Wikipedia are easy to use, find, and read, electronic information is everywhere. In 1996 there were 10,000 scholarly databases online and now they exceed 18,000. Professors and librarians at colleges are encouraging students to use scholarly materials by teaching classes and going through step by step tutorials. A growing librarian led movement called "Information Literacy" is promoted to make students more likely to located and use electronic data, not straight from the Internet. Many universities are embracing information literacy. Campuses have created programs that encourage faculty and librarians to teach the students on how to find, sort, analyze, and communicate information. The American Library Association called it a necessary skill and urged schools to make it part of their curriculum.
Most of the problems with information on the Internet is that there is so much of it, it can be overwhelming. People need to be able to determine what is relevant and what isn't. There are also bogus websites that exist and nothing on them is true. Therefore by using a scholarly journal that is cited and approved, the information that a student uses will be accurate. More and more libraries and campuses are improving their Information Literacy programs and making the students, and even faculty, aware of what is out there. There are even tests that present a student with the same kind of problems you would see in college or work, and it measures students' information literacy skills. Some teachers still think that the Internet is a hassle and that it only contains lies. However, many powerful and useful pieces of information come from the Internet and whether we like it or not, this is the technology in the world we live in and we should take advantage of it.
When I took English 201 last semester, we came into the library for a day and went into the computer lab for a librarian to show us how to access scholarly journals. I already felt overwhelmed with information and journals that I didn't even want to use a book or the Internet. I actually didn't end up using an actual Internet page, but I did use the journals and articles that I searched for in the database. However, if I wasn't required to use 2 or more books as a source, I wouldn't have. I don't think that books are irrelevant, but with the plethora of information out there these days, there is no need or time for me to sit down and read a whole book on a subject that I am writing a 5 page paper on. Therefore, I find that searching for a few good articles or journals is much more time efficient and relevant. Information Literacy is very important to our generation, especially considering that every year there is more and more information put on the Internet. We need to keep up with the times an make sure that we don't fall behind as a generation. The newest generations will be much better at something else by the time that we get used to all of this.