Information Literacy: The Perils of Online Research

A university professor, a high school teacher, and a graduate student provide commentary in Information Literacy, which offers a succinct overview of the perils and benefits of online research, while also featuring students who share their own experiences. While the definition and benefits of information literacy are adequately discussed, the big shortcoming of this guide is that it never really makes clear that web research is only one aspect of information literacy. Although it features solid segments on plagiarism and evaluating the legitimacy of a web source, there's little mention made here of the fact that information can be gleaned from print and other sources when appropriate. Even though print reference sources are outside the scope of this program, student comments presented here only serve to reinforce the erroneous message that everything can be found online (one even laments that prior generations had to use books to find information). While this could serve as part of a more comprehensive information literacy program, it should only be used with caveats. Optional. Aud: H, C, P. (N. Egan)