Is the Library Obsolete?

[maniac]

One thing to remember about Wikipedia is that people are supposed to not take things at face value, but are supposed to follow the citations on the pages. It is a starting point, not an end point.

 

I WISH they'd hammer that one home to the kids in this school. The amount of work which is copied and pasted directly from Wikipaedia pages scares me, the fact teachers don't clock it either, and the fact some students cite wikipaedia as a factual source!

 

I'd love to block it, and force them to look at the websites containing the factual information, but no chance!

[IT_Guy]

I WISH they'd hammer that one home to the kids in this school. The amount of work which is copied and pasted directly from Wikipaedia pages scares me, the fact teachers don't clock it either, and the fact some students cite wikipaedia as a factual source!

 

I'd love to block it, and force them to look at the websites containing the factual information, but no chance!

 

Surely basic essay writing requires the citing of references, teachers need to be aware of plagiarism and the (very easy) ways of checking for it.

 

I do think Wikipedia is getting a raw deal on this thread, no source can be trusted in isolation but the ability to hyperlink between articles brings subjects such as history and science to life in a way that no book ever could.

 

As for accuracy, as an example take a look at the 'adolf hitler' article on wikipedia, it has over 300 footnotes, over 50 references and an ongoing discussion tab. You can even browse the articles history to check every single change made to it since its creation in 2001.

 

As for the school library, I suspect it will be replaced by ebooks once the readers are cheap enough, its already happening in California I believe.

 

Save a tree, read a ebook!

Edited February 23, 2010 by IT_Guy

[enjay]

the ability to hyperlink between articles brings subjects such as history and science to life in a way that no book never could.

 

Very true.

 

Of course, it also makes it much easier to get distracted and wonder off topic, so teaching of research skills might need to be updated to cover this.

[CAM]

I worked the entire day in a school library and still based in it to some degree. It is a new build and was designed to house a large number of computers for Sixth Form students to use during free periods. At other times, other members of the school use it when it turns into an activity hub with lunchtime events and video-conferencing sessions.

 

The reference section is pretty out of date but a budget was recently allocated to the fiction sections and that was updated. You need someone good at promoting the events and books to encourage reading and the book shelves went from supporting the computer users to being just as important as the computers themselves for encouraging reading and literacy.

 

Work with your English department to see what you can come up with and tie the Library in with VLE systems for information and event promotion. And be ready for the real challenge of keeping the place quiet...

[MattGibson]

We've actually just refurbished our Library, we went from a room full of books about 5 long racks stacked high of books. Now there's a small corner with a few book shelf's and computer islands around the middle of the room with network and electricity trucked under the floor.