The Web and Research Papers

[Chuck Waibel]

> >There's an interesting op-ed piece in the new issue
> >of the Chronicle of Higher Education. The article is
> >titled "How the Web Destroys the Quality of Students'
> >Research Papers", and is written by David
> >Rothenberg, 

	I'm afraid that the quality of research papers is most strongly influenced
by the attitudes of and instructions from professors and teachers. This
being the case, such unconnected assertions and Straw Man-ing as this
fellow engages in are a big source of the problem.

<snip>

> >he also notes that
> >students seem to be using books less and less, in
> >favor of readily available articles and other sources.

	Didn't we invent libraries to be sources of "readily available"
information?

<snip>

> "Of course, you can't
> >blame the students for ignoring books. When college
> >libraries are diverting funds from books to computer
> >technology that will be obsolete in two years at most, 
> >they send a clear message to students: Don't read,
> >just connect. Surf. Download. Cut and paste."

	I remember High School, when many teachers disallowed any information
garnered from an encyclopedia, for apparently the same reasons. Why is
information that was hard to find more valuable than that found easily?
We're supposed to teach people to THINK, not turn pages faster. The more
information a student can lay his hands on, the more he has to think about
and with. Perhaps the problem is that it's harder to teach thinking than
how to use a card catalog.

> >He also states: "Libraries used to be repositories of
> >words and ideas. Now they are seen as centers for
> >the retrieval of information. Some of this information
> >comes from other, bigger libraries, in the form of
> >books that can take time to obtain through interlibrary
> >loan. What happens to the many students...who
> >scramble to write a paper the night before it's due?
> >The computer screen, the gateway to the world
> >sitting right on their desks, promises instant access--
> >but actually offers only a pale, two-dimensional
> >version of a real library."

	This sounds like the argument that the only true books are those made by
scribes, that no "real" library would soil itself with mere printed books.
We rejoice today that this technology lets us show students a world of
Information that is alive and vibrant and planetary. 
	There have always been procrastinating students, but has Mr. Rothenberg
ever seen the transcendent glow on the face of a student who realizes that
the facts he needs are immediately available, that he doesn't have to
interrupt his train of thought for days or weeks?
	Mr. Roth's concerns are valid, and I am sure his intent is good, but in
this case he's "browsing the wrong URL."
Regards,
Chuck Waibel