Discuss the drawbacks and benefits of using the Internet as a resource for researching academic assignments rather than using a traditional library
Nowadays, more and more college students are in favor of utilizing web information to complete their assignments rather than traditional libraries. However, there are still a series of problems in the web resources. This essay aims to discuss the benefits and drawbacks of web information. It will demonstrate that, although the usage of the internet as a resource is commonly perceived as superior to other traditional resources, web information should improve in every area, and students should more accurately evaluate network information. This essay will look at, four important main ideas concerning the resources for researching academic assignments: students’ preference for sources, web information credible moderately, students’ ability to evaluate the information, selected traditional resources and qualified librarians.
First of all, college students believe that almost all of the information about academic assignments could be found on the internet. A survey which questioned 1050 students aged from 18 to24, revealed that about 62 percent of participants make use of web search for all college assignment (OCLC White Paper, as cited in Tomaiuolo, 2005). Furthermore, Jenkins (2002, as cited in Tomaiuolo, 2005) stated that, which polled 116 students, approximately three quarters of respondents “began their research on the web”. It means that college students prefer using the network to the traditional resources for their academic assignments. For example, Morrison et al (1998, as cited in Tomaiuolo, 2005), members of a School of Business faculty, which questioned forty-two undergraduates, about two thirds of participants preferred using the web to the traditional resources.
However, among Morrison’s questionnaire, some students said that: “. . .because much of the information put out on the Web is not...