Banned in the Library September 13, 2007
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Opinion.trackback
I overheard an interesting comment today while helping out at a school. The librarian was introducing the library to a new class. In describing the resources she asked if it was OK to use Google. Being mostly compliant students, they assumed the answer was yes. She told them,
“No. You can’t use Google in the library. You can’t just type in a question to get an answer. It’s too easy. What if you were in a library without Google? You have to learn how to use the resources in the library.”
I’m having a hard time picturing a library without Google. I’m also wondering about restricting certain resources from our students. Just imagine if we told students, “No, you can’t use printed materials. Books are too heavy. It’s too easy to just look up a key work in the index. What if you were at home or someplace without all these printed materials. You have to learn how to use only online digital resources?”
Just replace your favorite source of information (TV, storytellers, newspapers, blogs, magazines, radio, wikis, etc.) and think about what it would be like if you were banned from that resource.
For me, a better response or position to take would be to teach students the proper use of Google, how to verify results, how to access advanced find features, even additional online search tools.
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