Reading #5

Andrew Darcy
Library Reading #5
March 19, 2009

Information Navigation 101
By: Andrea Foster
Issue Date: 03/09/07

College students these days are quick at adapting to frivolous items such as a new feature on MySpace or Facebook, but when it comes to doing academic research they tend to struggle. As students attempt to perform academic research, they are unable and unwilling to sift through the tricky databases. Students rather take the short way out as they become frustrated with databases and tend to then limit their search to just the likes of Google. This has not happened historically because older generations did not have the capability to explore vast amounts of information at the click of a mouse. However, not all information on the web is correct and libraries are looking at ways to get students to use their methods of finding information. Universities throughout the country are trying to rectify this current situation that students are facing through various acts, but none as important as a proposed idea of making students take a class in hopes of them becoming information literate. Throughout college academia, the universities are maybe going to make it a requirement for students to take an information technology class, that shows students how to use a database and which information is actually a viable source for academic papers. Some schools have even gone to the extreme of making students take an information literate exam that must be passed before they are permitted to graduate.

This article demonstrates the problem that students, like myself, are facing when confronted at looking at complicated databases. I tend to take the easy way out, such as Google, because of the relative ease of maneuvering through the search engine. The idea of making a required course about obtaining good data from sources and how to work your way around a database is a good idea. Universities should definitely think about implementing this into their course requirements and this will permit students to write more informed papers, with better information.