Consciousness of disinformation

[irene upshur or bill baratta]

Elizabeth Felt wrote:
> 
> Increasingly, teachers at my university are *requiring* their students to
> use the Web for research, and encouraging them to do this before using
> the library. Many of those students don't bother ever using the library,
> as the web is so convient.
> 
> I have taught a number of "user education"
> classes where the teaching assistant wanted me to explain how to find
> information on the Web.  I am pleased when asked to do this, as I can show
> students how important it is to evaluate the information they find.  Most
> of them realize that anyone can publish anything on the Web, but they
> haven't put  2 and 2 together to realize that what they find on the web
> might be inaccurate or worse.
> 
> Unfortunately, the percentage of students getting instruction from
> librarians about the use of the web is small, compared to the numbers
> doing their research there.
> 
> The WSU Libraries have been helping to train the lab monitors who work in
> some of the campus computer labs.  This is in order that the monitors are
> comfortable and competent at training others to use the library catalog
> and other databases.  It would be good to extend this training to include
> the evaluation of web material.
> 
> Elizabeth
> 
> ************************
> Elizabeth Caulfield Felt
> Reference Librarian
> Washington State University
> Pullman, WA  99164-5610
> 509-335-8957
> felt at wsu.edu
> http://www.wsulibs.wsu.edu/faculty/felthp.htm
> *********************************************

Ms. Felt,

			You state:

"I can show students how important it is to evaluate the information
they find."

"...they [students] haven't put  2 and 2 together to realize that what
they find on the web might be inaccurate or worse." 

			I reply:

A book? Periodicals? Non-print media? TV? The Web? What's the
difference? 

I was 15 before I discovered Thomas Jefferson's philosophy to be a tad
less pristine than my history text recounted. 

That was decades ago. No Web then. 

The early stages of my critical thinking skills were self-inflicted
curiosity generated by one teacher who simply said, "History usually
reflects one point of view...there are others." I needed to hear this
from someone I respected....say...a librarian?
			
			You state:

"...I can show students how important it is to evaluate the information
they find."

			I reply:

Surely you have been doing this all along?

Best.
Irene