This video illustrates the changing nature of information and the changing ways of finding information. In our last class we discussed finding books in the library and in our next class we will discuss finding electronic and paper articles. As we’ve progressed through the semester, what barriers have you seen to finding information in the library? What could we do better to make it easier to find information? What would your ideal library look like?
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15 Responses to “Discussion Post 3: Barriers to Finding Information”
This blog was very interesting. The first part of the blog really described how I feel every time I need to find something in the library. It just seems like one piece of information leads you to another and another and another. But the second half of the blog makes me think about 2 things. The first thing is that there is so much information out there and it is so easy to access; all you have to do is type in a word on the internet and something related will pop up! The only thing I find about this part of the internet is that it is the opposite of what the last blog was about. The stuff on the internet is not entirely reliable and you have to be careful which sites you get information from. It showed it again on this blog that you can edit Wikipedia whenever you wanted to, anyone can! Yes the internet is a lot faster and easier to deal with but it is not as credible as library sources (even though you can stress out about trying to find the right information- especially if you don’t know the very specific ways to search through their databases!)
While the ZSR library catalog helps students find available print and electronic resources, not much searchable information is given to indicate whether the resources are suitable for the research question. Some online entries provide a summary, cover image, and excerpt from a book, but one must often locate the resource and browse through it to determine if it will be helpful. I thought the Google Books tool of searching the entire text of a given resource was extremely valuable. The digitization of all ZSR’s print materials would be quite the undertaking, but such a project would be very useful in locating sources and conducting research.
I really enjoyed the video and everything it had to say about the way we find information. What I’ve become most frustrated with in ZSR is not being able to see good book summaries for a lot of books in the catalog in order to determine the usefulness of the literature. I would like to see more in-depth summaries for all of the books. My ideal library is organized like ZSR but would look completely like the rare-books room.
I found it interesting to think about how much information has been changing over the past few years. I thought the video was interesting as well and definitely made me think about how much the internet has been created by normal people. I like how you can search a term on the computer and find relevant material instantly, instead of having to search through a file cabinet or search on the shelf for a book like in the past. I think that the ZSR Library is often difficult to understand because it is so different from what students have encountered before. (Such as ‘nonfiction by alphabet’ and ‘fiction by alphabet’ as the two primary categories.) However, I feel that this organizational method is much better now that I have had a chance to finally begin to go into it. I don’t know how I would arrange my ideal library, but I suppose it would be very similar to ZSR if it were large, and in some more simple fashion if it were smaller.
I could definitely relate to the initial confusion of the person in the beginning of the video. The frustration has come to me many times before as I’ve been researching for my topics. Since there is so much information out there, finding what you really want is made very difficult. The internet, although fast and highly advanced, does not know how to read your mind and has not yet reached the point where it can ‘understand’ humans. I find that when searching for a book in the library I can find books on my general topic, but there is always something better out there that is more applicable to the path of thought I want to take my research. Many times I have spent a good amount of time looking up a books on the internet for my research, went to the library to find them, been disappointed by the results but happen to randomly find a book in the same vicinity that is perfect. I’m left thinking why in that long time I spent searching did this title not come up and how many other books like this is the computer not telling me about. Then, of course, when you get into internet sources themselves I am always left wondering how reliable they really are. Also, there is that moment when you have found a summary of what sounds like the best source ever and you click the title and …your heart drops. The source is either blocked, an error occurs, etc. I have gotten used to researching in the ZSR library over the past year and don’t think I would change much about it. I think the internet catalog makes finding things a ton easier, but maybe more information on what the book is really about would be more helpful in saving time.
This video was bit hard to follow as it progressed because everything was moving so quickly, but by the end, it was clear that the point of this video was to point out how versatile information is and how abundant it is due to the digital age we live in. Despite this, there are still times when researching electronically can be difficult and arduous. Many times when I have been searching for electronic articles, the full-text options don’t have any results, rendering the article useless. Also, if it weren’t for the guided keywords (which according to the video have now reached a ridiculous number), it would be hard to sort through all of the sources that are available online or electronically. Another advantage of digital resources and electronic resource search capabilities is that one has access to distant resources. For my history seminar, I utilized Interlibrary Loan extensively and got the majority of my sources from other libraries. If it weren’t for worldcat and the interlibrary loan service, I am confident that my paper would not have been as good as I would have had limited resources from which to draw information from. This is the beauty of having information that is not limited to a shelf.
Overall, my experience with finding information in the Z. Smith Reynolds Library has been quite positive. In my history research seminar, I have utilized many of the print resources in the library to find primary sources, and I have also used many of the online databases the library provides. One problem I have had with finding information in the library, though, is using the Library of Congress subject keyword search. The categories the LOC uses to classify topics are sometimes not where one would think to look. For this reason, I am glad I learned about the guided keyword search in this class, and it has helped in my research for my history seminar. One thing the video suggests is that the library could do a better job of classifying information in multiple categories or “tags” so that someone can find the same information through a few different paths. After all, people think differently when looking for information. My ideal library would have a combination of actual books and paper sources on shelves and electronic scans of books so that someone could search the text of the electronic scans and find the actual book quickly.
Often times I put up with the hassle of searching through an organized system of information because I expect the information to be reliable and accurate. The video does show how much easier the Internet makes the gathering of information, but at the same time this information does not pass through a universal standard of verifiability and reliability. Tags are quick, but are they right? With this in mind, I think that the Internet allows for quick information searches but leaves room for doubt as well. Information is quick, abundant and comes from millions of sources, but these sources may not always be factual. I guess to be sure on whether not the information is trustworthy, the old fashioned method still remains appropriate.
It was interesting how easy it is to change records now that we have computers. With just a few keystrokes you can change words in or even the meaning of an entire paragraph. In addition, I like how the Newsweek article had the internet as a passing phase. Today even little children know how to use and navigate the world wide web. Thirteen years ago when the article was written, it seemed like a passing fad. Information flows freely among many people and one can find the same topic in many different places with many different takes. While things are not neatly tucked away on shelves, I do think that all the information is organized in a certain way. The way may not be as neat as a library shelf, however, categories and keywords could be seen as their own form of organization.
Without a doubt, this blog entry demonstrates the tremendous adaptability of information, particularly in an age where electronic media and digital technology has become a corner stone of the way in which we live our lives.
For me, one the greatest problems of the library has always been the difficulty of deciphering the various forms of information. As the video demonstrates, information can be categorized in so many different ways, and often times, even words, thoughts, and themes can have a variety of different meanings. Although it seems to be an already common theme in the responses, I think one of the most effective things ZSR could do to make the library more user-friendly would be either to provide an electronic summary of the print sources within the library. This could be written by a staff member familiar with the work, a respectable critic, or even a short preview of the work itself. By doing so, the library could help limit the time it takes to find sources applicable for research topics, and not only make the experience less frustrating for the student, but also allow books that won’t be useful anyway to stay on the shelves for a student who truly needs them.
I think another problem many students encounter in the library is the difficulty of understanding how the library categorizes its sources. In a sense, the only way to better come to terms with this is through experience. Continued education in classes, particularly freshman year, can offer help here. Still, in the end, there is just no perfect way to categorize every work in the library to meet everyone’s preferences.
Taking what I saw in this blog posting, I would have to say I have a better appreciation for the adaptability of information and the incredible strides made in the world of electronic media. Wikipedia and other electronic sources have allowed people to categorize information in ways that not only fit their preferences, but also can meet the expectations of other users as well. Nonetheless, I also gained an appreciation for the difficulty of categorizing printed sources. Certainly, while the library’s categorization of works might be confusing at times, it is a necessary and ultimately helpful system that benefits everyone who uses ZSR.
Its interesting to consider how common access to information has evolved over time. Although some may criticize Wikipedia for allowing various users to edit information so that it may not be considered valid, I think that more good things have come out of the online encyclopedia. Its unbelievable how quickly a google search can yield billions of articles. Todays generation has become so accustomed to fast-access information, the old ways seem tired and obviously outdated. Fewer students actually go to the library to look up books. Why would they when they can access the same material online without leaving their room? Although it is important to understand the impact of the internet on society, it is also a remarkable invention that should be taken advantage of. Nowhere else can this much information be stored in one place, and accessed at a click of a button. I think that easy access to information that the internet has provided has caused more people to go online and actually read about important issues. The easier information is to access, the more people will be interested in reading it. Overall, I think the benefits of the internet outweigh the constraints.
This video highlights the good and bad things about libraries versus online resources. It shows the ease and massive amounts of information available online. At the same time, it proves how certain information may not be reliable. I think a logical conclusion is to use both online sites in combination with what you can find at a library to help you best find what you need. It can make the process easier and more effective (online) which can translate to finding something reliable (library) and going from there.
I thought that the video was very interesting, as well as creative. It shows how finding information has evolved over the years. Although finding information has become easier, it can however be difficult to find creditable and scholarly sources. I think that there needs to be an easier way of attaining these sources other than having to go directly to the library itself or through a library database. To change this situation I would create a website that is like the search engine Google, that would limit your results to only scholarly sources. My ideal library would have a room designated only for books and resources that are older and dated. I would then have another room designated to books that were published within the last five years about current events, and the last room would be a computer lab, where each computer will allow you access to the databases that my library subscribes to.
This video was really interesting in the way that it showed how information is changing. Its almost scary to think about the many ways that we can access information and how that affects what we know, and how we can use is for scholarly and academic purposes. We have become completely used to receiving information quickly. Since we are in this fast-paced google generation, sometimes I forgot how easy it is for us. Tags are a great way to organize information, but this video also made it evident that you have to be able to understand how these new mediums work in order to access information. This has become second nature for our generation, but it definitely puts older generations at a disadvantage. Even though we have all of this information at our fingertips, the issue of reliability is really prevalent. just because there is so much available, we now have to go through certain avenues to make sure that we are receiving the best possible information. In some ways, we wish that the internet could read our mind in what we are searching for. But because we are not there yet, it is essential to learn how the internet organizes information and how we can best use it to adapt to our various searches.
I think the biggest point I took from this video was to be aware of the information around us; not only how we find information but how the information ‘finds us.’ As the way information is retrieved evolves, we the ’seekers of information’ need to evolve as well. The most important reason for this, I believe, is benefit from the technology revolution of information rather than become a victim of it. Understanding how information is relayed via new technology is important so that we can use it to our benefit. Otherwise, if we fail to grasp this understanding we ultimately fail to access new information.