“Since everything is on the Internet, I don’t need books…..right?”

I don't believe that this is true because you can get equally vital information from books and the internet. Not everything is from the internet and there could be some information that is missing when it comes to the internet. Sometimes, when I am researching for something, many of the sites contain the same information--and on wikipedia, it is as if it was copied from one site and pasted on another. Books have individual characteristics while websites may be similar and you have to look further. Though it is true that 'everything' is on the internet, it is good to get familiar with researching from books as well as the internet. When I did history day, it had to be books, primary and some secondary sources, and all done with a works cited. If I didn't learn from that experience, I would probably thinking the same thing. I actually like the information contained in books because you know they are non-fiction and you know that the information must be historically correct. The statistics may vary and the dates will also determine factors, but so does the internet. The only thing is that on the internet, it is hard to always determine whether it is a credible source. With books, you know the author's intent, the librarian can help out, and you don't have to deal with books that are so similar, it is as if the authors sat together copying off each other. So, we do need books.

What is the hardest thing about finding information and doing research on a topic for you personally? Did this Library Research course help? In what ways did this course help you? (Or if the course didn’t help, why not? What would have been more helpful and/or useful to you?

The challenge I face when researching a topic personally is finding reliable information. I have to ask myself "Is this true?" or "Would the teacher accept this?". Another challenging factor when researching is when it has to be from a specific source, in a specific format, and specific in general. I am definitely not a fan for it when it comes to research and sometimes even writing. I also find citing the information a challenge because it's tedious for me, but I know I have to do it, even if I give the author credit in the essay (perhaps that is why I find it annoying and tedious). The library research course helped in some of the places such as other ways to define plagiarism because some of the ways I didn't know about. Though the class helped me, in other ways, I don’t think it helped because most of the things taught I knew about, but there are a few things I missed in between. Something that would have been useful was helping us construct a research paper because I have a few weaknesses to fix when it comes to that. I am really grateful for the course, though I got off to a rough start (and will probably fail). It was an interesting class and it helped me, though I believe it should help more with the things that the class as a whole finds perplexing. Another way that I suggest would be helpful is the dos and don’ts when it comes to researching a paper. Other than that, I was glad to learn the things that I missed when learning this in my high school English classes since they can only go into depth in a limited amount of time—the first day and a little of the second usually, but the teachers never go further with it. The class is helpful in some ways.

What do you think librarians do? What do you think would be really cool if libraians started doing it? What do you think the library of the future might look like?

What do you hope to study when you go to college and why? How is the pre-collegiate helping you meet your goals?