[BC] libraries vs on-line research

[Al Stewart]

There is also a great deal of misinformation in the hardcopy versions of information ... books ... magazines ... specialty publications. Granted it is a lot easier to publish on the web.

I have more than one friend/acquaintance/relative who seem to specialize in grabbing hold of misinformation and treating it as fact. They do that from the web ... but they were also doing that from print publications or word of mouth prior to their access to the web. Mostly it has been a case of finding "information" that agrees with some aspect of preconceived notions.

Unfortunately the web has made it possible to get more wrong info ... and get it faster. ...  However it does make the real information -- whatever that is -- more readily available. ... Living in a small town far from major sources of research, I find it most useful. But I do have to know what the information sources are, and what their pre-established prejudices and whatever might be.

Al

------ At 08:34 AM 06/27/2006 -0700, Barry Mishkind wrote: -------
  

>At 06:28 AM 6/27/2006, Mike McCarthy wrote
>>For someone close to the resources of a major library which houses a substantial reference or other collection of interest, that may be the case.  But in rural USA...which is about 80-85% of the geography in the US and over 95% worldwide, a digital version is better than no version what so ever.
>
>        The problem - well known to those who actively
>        use the web for research - is the tremendous
>        amount of mis-information that is spread on
>        so many websites. Some of it is unintentional
>        (even repeating old hoaxes like KDKA being
>        the first commercial radio station), some
>        is sloppy, "enthusiasts" who put up what
>        they "think" is right or what they "remember,"
>        and some comes from people who salt in
>        wrong facts just to see if they can "catch"
>        someone.  Sadly, the Wikipedia is the
>        source of a goodly amount of that, even
>        as the "owner" tries to find ways to mediate
>        disputes and reduce anonymous additions.
>
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________________________________
>Barry Mishkind     -       Tucson, AZ    -   520-296-3797
>
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Al Stewart
stewarta at kootenay.com
stewarta at xplornet.com
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