(Fwd) "60 Minutes" and Web Site Evaluations

[Ethelle S. Bean]

I saw the piece and was struck by how amazed Leslie Stahl,  the
reporter was that anyone, yes, anyone can set up a webpage.  I also
thought it was a pretty naive response.  I thought the web expert did
a pretty good job of trying to explain that this was pretty much
free speech in action and that it is critical for 9th graders to
learn to evaluate information.  

I would like to suggest that many, many librarians need to take pen in 
hand and send " 60 minutes" a letter explaining that yes, the Web is 
information-rich as well as information-crackpot, that librarians 
have taken up the challenge of evaluating web sites, etc.  A good 
letter writing campaign can educate. (It can also cause companies like 
Packard Bell to pull ads that defame libraries.)  Perhaps one of the 
pro-librarian's role letters will be read at the end of this week's 
show or may even cause them to do a follow up story with a library focus.

Just a thought. -- Ethelle Bean

___________________________________________________________
Ethelle S. Bean, Director, Karl E. Mundt Library,
Dakota State University, Madison SD, 57042-1799.
Phone: 605-256-5203 FAX: 605-256-5208
Internet: beane at columbia.dsu.edu
Website: www.dsu.edu:80/departments/library/index.html

Note:  All opinions expressed are my own...  Fill in the rest of the
standard disclaimer stuff for yourself. Thanks.