Should Reference Librarians Look Down Upon the Use of Web Sites in Writing Papers?

Over the last week I have examined some undergraduate papers in environmental and chemical engineering that were submitted within the last 3 years.  I am evaluating the writing and information literacy skills of the papers.  I observe that the majority of the references in the bibliographies are web sites.  This is disappointing since I spent much time in class demonstrating the databases to them.  Students seem to be content on using Google to find the information they need. 

On the positive side they do use reputable databases and find the information to answer their research question.  The papers they write are usually very good.  I keep wondering “If you can’t beat them, join them.”  Perhaps more time in class should be devoted to evaluating web pages using the CRAAP test.  CRAAP is the acronym for Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose.

Trying to Meet With Graduate Students in Small Groups

For many years I have taught information literacy skills to graduate student as part of a departmental seminar.  Since most of these seminars are large, students may get lost in the crowd.  They may feel embarrassed about asking questions and thus refrain from doing so.  I thought that in this forthcoming semester I will meet with graduate students in small groups and avoid lecturing them.  Instead I will ask them about their research interests and demonstrate the databases by answering their specific questions.  Let’s see if it works.