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| Monday, November 10, 2008
Libraries losing students to Internet
While students depend on the net for quick information, teachers
see it as extra tool
Chennai: The vast world of information available on the internet
has many students deserting the libraries in droves.
“Only about 30 per cent of students use the library these
days. Everything is available on the internet,” says P.
Nisha, a second year B.E student from the Central Electrochemical
Research Institute. “It is so easy to search for information
on the net. I just need to type in a word. In the library, I
would have to search from rack to rack, book to book.”
Libraries in schools and colleges seem to be losing patronage
among students, as students like her consider the internet a
worthy alternative. The internet, which has crept into study
rooms, is slowly showing encyclopaedias and reference books
borrowed from libraries their way out.
“Most people do not have the patience to search bookshelves
anymore,” agrees S. Krithika, a second year B.E student
from the Alagappa Chettiar College of Engineering and Technology.
She says that teachers, who offer book lists and references
from the library, have also started to suggest specific websites,
appropriate to their subject, which have reliable articles.
C. Satish, Senior Principal, D.A.V. Boys Senior Secondary School,
Gopalapuram, endorses the practice of students using the internet
for projects and assignments.
“It is important to use technology to one’s advantage,”
he says.
Most high school students have a time constraint since they
would have to attend several classes even after school hours.
“The internet helps them save time… It is very informative
and students can make their projects better by browsing through
different websites,” he adds.
“I had to work on a project related to HIV and AIDS. I
sourced many facts from the WHO website. I also went through
a few medical journals. I put them all together, added visuals
and made a presentation in class,” says R. Roshni, a class
XI student.
“Not best option”
Bharath Kumar, a class XII student, also uses the internet regularly
to look for information. However, teachers and parents are wary
of the internet when it comes to credibility. “When it
is a narrow topic demanding specifics, the internet may not
be the best option,” says Swathi Kumar, Bharath’s
mother.
It is the reliability factor that keeps some students from depending
entirely on the internet. “There is a lot of online material
on my subject, but it is hard to know what is right, what is
wrong. Books are still more credible,” says Sumukhi Suresh,
a 3rd year B.Sc. Nutrition student at MOP Vaishnav College.
Although teachers recommend specific web articles, she says
most students depend on the college library first.
“The internet acts as an extra tool, an added advantage,”
she says.
For some teachers, plagiarism is the most worrisome aspect of
widespread internet research. “When a whole group of students
have lifted material off the same website, we let them know
this is not acceptable,” says an English lecturer from
a women’s college in Chennai.
She actively promotes library usage in classroom hours.
“I give them a topic and send them to the library then
and there. I expect them to come back to me and report what
they have found, so they have no other option but to get used
to using the library,” she says.
Courtesy: The Hindu
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