As the internet has exploded over the last few decades its wealth of knowledge and convenience of accessibility has made it the most commonly used resource for research material. Gone are the days of heading of to the library for a day of cramming and frantically searching through card catalogs to locate the material you need. This has greatly increased the importance for all of us to be able to evaluate the reliability and validity of information when researching for an essay, speech, etc. Wikipedia is probably the most notorious internet location for misinformation. It is now sometimes the case that I find myself spending almost as much time researching the source of my information to make sure that it's credible as I do researching the information itself.
While the prevalence of less than credible sources can often be a problem, the abundance of information and the currency of that information has certainly been a boon for all students. Instead of picking up a book whose information could by now be outdated or scouring recent magazines for pertinent and current information a simple Google search can now easily yield up to date articles. We now have more information, more current information, and more accessible information. When used properly these tools provide students with everything that they need to educate themselves and make better presentations than might have been possible in the past.
"We don't think we think so, we know." -Maritime
agree. most people dont use libraries. if i need to look something up or find something out, its as easy as calling someone because even our mobile devices have internet. i rarely remember trying to look something up at the library, not for research anyways. i love reading books but dont remember last time i used one for research or a speech. wikipedia is also something i use often. i sometimes think about using the library but then remember how easy it is to just go online haha
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