While books and journals are reliable scholarly sources, I
am going to concentrate more on the Internet since we have become so dependent
on it. In today’s world we are literally a push of a button away from any
information we may need at any given time… for the most part. Smartphones are
becoming more popular and more people are becoming new owners of smartphones
with every passing minute.
I am an avid Google user and Google just about everything
(no joke! My family makes fun of me for this). However, how much of what we
read on the Internet is actually reliable information, because A LOT of what is
now on the Internet is very questionable? Using Google you can locate scholarly
reliable articles if you query “Google Scholar” and then query whatever it is you’re
searching for under that.
In high school I learned very quickly that Wikipedia was not
a very reliable source at all, from first hand experience. My friends went back
and edited something that they were reading to complete gibberish, and never
again did I use Wikipedia as a source for anything school related. And just
like there is Wikipedia, there is “Yahoo Answers” and “Ask Jeeves” where the
average person answers a question to the best of their abilities, or sometimes,
very sarcastically. One just has to know the difference between what can be
trusted and what cannot.
The thing about Google Scholar is the fact that it is unable to exactly locate what you want to. If you search for something really specific for example, then you will get unfiltered responses. This reduces the efficacy of the process.
ReplyDeleteIt is so tempting to type in any question that I have into Google! It is so easy and many times can find semi-reliable answers. As you said though, you definately can't believe everything you find. I am always seeing things being put out about Wikipedia being more and more reliable, but I still find it hard to completely rely on. Yahoo Answers and Ask Jeeves are pretty much useless as many of the responses I see on there are often a joke.
ReplyDeleteI heard all the time not to rely on google or wikipedia. after being in college i found that its true. using them can lead you astray. Although they are becoming more reliable I find it still better to rely on sources given by campus resources.
ReplyDeleteWe have come along way with technology over the past few years. But with all these advances you have to always use caution. Because literally anyone can put anything online. Google scholar also has its limitations but if used with caution you can locate good scholarly sources to back all you points in a paper.
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