Why Information Literacy is important.
In the Times this morning there is an interesting article on
Wikipedia in which Ben MacIntyre says 'Most people approach Wikipedia with a
firm understanding of its limitations; any students who cut and paste Wikipedia
errors into their work do not deserve to be in higher
education.' (!)
and:
'The online encyclopaedia was a simple brilliant idea, the
latest flowering of the Enlightenment ideal of collective pursuit of
truth. By pooling our knowledge, gradually weeding out the mistakes and
the myths, we would arrive at a "repository of knowledge to rival the ancient
library of Alexandria", a fantastic, free experiment in intellectual democracy.'
(quote not attributed but presumably form Wikipedia itself.)
Kathy
Kathy Lemaire
Chief Executive
The School Library
Association
Unit 2, Lotmead Business Village
Wanborough, Swindon, SN4 0UY,
UK
tel: +44 (0)1793 791787 fax: +44 (0)1793 791786
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
www.SLA.org.uk
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, July 21, 2006 10:07
AM
Subject: Why Information Literacy is
important.
This is enough to make a Librarian weep.
I have just introduced a friend to Wikipedia. He
was impressed but dubious about the concept, so he decided to test it. He
found a topic he knew something about that didn't have an entry and made one
up, which was totally false. He then went to Yahoo Q&A and asked something
about the same topic. Low and behold, the answer he got back was the same
rubbish he'd posted on Wikipedia.
It's on the Internet so it must be true?
Discuss.
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