Time has made that the articles in "The documentary Bold" have been depleted quantitatively, but not forgotten those who still avidly consulted these pages and passionately devouring everything humbly archivists, librarians and archivists can propose and develop. Along these lines I am prepared to continue a practice that was in effect for one year and which in any case I can not escape.
Today's article is different, since it is not about technology or innovation is simply a reflection that I realize as a result of reading an article by Umberto Eco, published in "The Nation and L'espresso" and disseminated from various sources and channels of information on the web. The idea was inspired by the commotion raised in the educational communities as the phenomenon of Wikipedia and its effects on students' education.
is at these points where libraries play an important role in training, no deformation, users and students since its inception in the school and university life, exercise their skills of learning, abstraction, organization, and because of reasoning. Before you make any constructive criticism, I refer to the full text written by Umberto Eco and then clearing the implication process for each section of the library, and reflect on the sociology of the user in the same in our context.
is at these points where libraries play an important role in training, no deformation, users and students since its inception in the school and university life, exercise their skills of learning, abstraction, organization, and because of reasoning. Before you make any constructive criticism, I refer to the full text written by Umberto Eco and then clearing the implication process for each section of the library, and reflect on the sociology of the user in the same in our context.
Risks of Wikipedia.
Although describes the role of Internet as a tool for knowledge if it is properly used, the author adds to the debate on the online encyclopedia and warns that the lack of rigor in its contents can lead to dangerous misunderstandings. Debate is shaking the world of Internet, is the debate about Wikipedia.
For those who do not know, this is an online encyclopedia written directly by the public. I do not know to what extent a central office controls the contributions coming from all over the world, but it's true that when I had the opportunity to consult on arguments that he knew (to check a date or title of a book), I have always found very well done and well informed. Of course that must be open to any collaboration has its risks, and it has happened that some people are attributing things they have done and even misdeeds. Of course, protested and article corrected.
The Wikipedia has another property: anyone can edit an article that considers wrong. I experimented with the item that concerns me: it contained an inaccurate biographical data, I corrected it and since then the item no longer contains this error. In addition, the summary of one of my books which I thought was an incorrect interpretation, since it said that I "develop" a certain idea of \u200b\u200bNietzsche while in fact the answer. Corrected "Develops" with "Argues against", and this correction was accepted.
The issue does not reassure me at all. Whatever, tomorrow, could intervene again on this article and attributing (by a spirit of mockery, mischief, out of stupidity) the opposite of what I have said or done. Moreover, since the Internet is still circulating a text which stated that I would be Luther Blissett, the famous forger (and even years after the authors carried out trick good coming out and presented by name), could be as sarcastic as I dedicate myself to contaminate the articles concerning authors that I find disagreeable, attributing false written episodes pedophiles, or links to the Children of Satan.
Who controls the Wikipedia not only texts but also their corrections? Or does a sort of compensation statistics, for which a false story sooner or later they located? The case of Wikipedia is, moreover, little concern with respect to another of the crucial problems of the Internet. Along with absolutely trustworthy sites, made by competent persons, there are sites as misleading, made by incompetent, unbalanced or even Nazi criminals, and not all network users are able to establish if a site is trustworthy or not .
The education issue has a dramatic impact, because by now we know that students often avoid school and look up the textbooks and encyclopedias and go directly Internet to get news, as long maintain that vital new course to be taught in school should be a technique for selecting the network news, the problem is that this is a difficult subject to teach because teachers are often in a position of powerlessness equivalent to that of their students.
Many educators complain, moreover, that the boys, if they have to write the text of a paper or even a university thesis, copy what they find on the internet. When copying a site lacks credibility, we should assume that the teacher realizes they are saying nonsense, but it is obvious that on some specialist topics is difficult to establish immediately whether the student says something false. Suppose a student chooses to do a thesis about an author very, very marginal, that the teacher knows second hand, and give it a particular work. Would you be able to tell the teacher that the author never wrote that book? I could do only if for every text you receive (and sometimes can be dozens and dozens of jobs) manages to carry out a careful control over the sources.
Not only that, the student may submit work that looks correct (and is) but is directly copied from the Internet using "copy and paste." I'm inclined to disregard this tragic phenomenon because also copy it is an art that is not easy, and a student has the right to copy either a good note. Moreover, even when there was no Internet, students could copy from a book found in the library and the matter has not changed (except that involved more manual effort). And finally, a good teacher is always aware when copying a standard text and smell the trick (again, if you copy with discernment, you have to tip your hat.)
I consider that there is a very effective way to exploit the shortcomings of Internet pedagogically. Pose you as an exercise in class, homework or college thesis, the following topic: "Finding on the argument X a mishmash of completely unfounded that they are available on the Internet, and explain why they are not credible. "Here is an investigation that requires critical thinking and ability to compare different sources, students would exercise in the art discernment.
By Umberto Eco
© THE NATION and L'Espresso
1 .- Introduction and Definition.
The popular Wikipedia has created a social movement, which distinguishes true " Wikis "and supporters of free culture and critics due to their lack of control, completeness, or political editing and thoroughness of the information available on it.
- Wikipedia: is defined or established as a multidisciplinary Babylon, whose main success of the number of users who use throughout the world is multicultural and linguistic facet that makes it compatible and translated in any country. It also serves as a publishing platform scheduled or open source software (see Application Wiki) closely related to librarianship and project aspects unparalleled in the history of the Internet since 2001.
concentrating the vision of these two movements, one can discover that from the editorial standpoint, the Wikipedia is a great competitor whose capacities for flexibility, decentralization of publishing, distribution and political philosophy have made it more attractive from market point of view, specifically, students, schools, universities ... among other groups.
And it is true, publishers have traditionally edited reference works considering a project or outline that has been refined over time, thanks to collectors, publishers and literary specialists recruited specifically to enhance the areas Theme of knowledge which has deepened in a uniform and planned over long periods of time. All this activity took place before the advent of the Internet, and has been a cornerstone of strategic trade policy and both the culture and knowledge.
key part later became ancillary as new technologies coupled with new models of publishing and connectivity for group work, have been relegated to the encyclopedia on paper to a less dynamic for CD-Rom, and is now also passed the online encyclopedias, the latter simple to update, expand and spread. In conclusion, it is a commercial victory on the big publishers that have not adapted to new methods of production, both a financial and commercial loss, as one of the pillars on which bore is being damaged or worn in a irremediable.
3 .- Problems of Wikipedia as Umberto Eco However
and outside enemies created by the Wikipedia, it is true that detect problems inherited from the philosophy of free culture or proposal that is, adding free content; So much so, that the promoters of the Wikimedia Foundation (promoters project) have come to contemplate and realize the problems that this policy leads for inexperienced users or due to vandalism activities. They define it as follows:
- Disinformation: Insert changes difficult to detect.
- Electoral fraud: Remove or insert votes of other users, sometimes missing or recorded for that purpose. Articles
- spurious: biographies of nonexistent.
- Trolls: provoked controversy.
- Spam: Add advertising.
- extract. Item: Wikipedia Vandalism.
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia
Thus Umberto Eco alarm about the quality of some articles or content of this encyclopedia, based on this problem and focus primarily on that not all world is ready to add an article encyclopedic thoroughness with which the act requires, that is, taking into account scientific knowledge, tested and proven true.
But you can say in favor of a free culture system like Wikipedia, which is a form of expression and dissemination of its users, which favors more so access free access to information or the contents thereof, representing a mirror of society we are living, full of constant changes sometimes in the right direction and other back of course.
4 .- A Conflict of Interest.
Like all great debates, conflicts are also politically incorrect that are not mentioned. In our case it is a conflict of interest or a covert war between the payment information or free access. For Wikipedia also responds to this conflict, since it raises the ultimate alternative to payment in the case has been a great editorial destabilization. But above all, in this battle there is more at stake than you may think, because really affected by the outcome are the users.
5 .- What is happening with the information and intellectual apparatus of the students.
Returning to the main thread, we discover that not all information available on wikipedia is true and accurate as they would in principle be a reference work properly published and edited by the traditional channels of information.
Still, would not just delete the bad, the initiative wikipedia, as used successfully as a guide and applying a critical and proven, from other sources, can greatly facilitate the work of any individual or even throw light on an issue or question.
Now I want to point out and emphasize the need for people using networked information sources, must have "Critical Judgement", "Scientific Reasoning" and "Contrast Technical Information. As you can deduce, the lack of these three ingredients are causing ignorance, misuse of certain information, misinformation and ultimately serious handling problems.
These issues highlighted are the real problem to solve, ie, "Teaching to Think ", as the wikipedia with the passage of time will be perfected, but if people are not well educated, negative values \u200b\u200bcan drag his erudition and insight into the reality around us.
6 .- Users "Cut and Paste"
regard to the work labeled as "cut and paste" and some of the practices that make some students, it can be concluded that are regrettable. Unfortunately a lot of content on the network are directly executed and incorporated fully as work for a particular subject. Without doubt, such practices malformations college student because he does not provide its own reflections, critiques, speech difficulties and what is worse, in many cases are reproduced the errors of the original source. In this sense it is only wikipedia, but the entire network in general that used the service in this manner.
I also called attention to the psyche expressed by some students and users in relation to books and manuals available in any library. Its main objective is to locate the content they need in the book thinner or smaller, ie, the minimum to get by. In other words, do not care about its quality, the comparison with other authors, extending the basic knowledge taught in the classroom. This phenomenon, well known by librarians, should be stopped in any case, by putting forward convincing and important thing is not the extent or number of pages that have a job, but what he says, or who say, gold ground.
7 .- What is the University Library and Our professionals can and should do.
In this situation librarians must properly train students to avoid or correct as far as possible the shortcomings of the education system through training of users, from the beginning of its activities in the university, attending to some of these sections.
- Organization and Basic Operation of the Library: Increasingly, there is the phenomenon that there are users who do not know what a library to start university education. Far from being a mirage, this type of cases recall the basics of our profession in the face of the formation of university and school students, which should be done to get there from the beginning of school library so adapted as necessary extension of the educational activity. And there is something new that said, in the Nordic countries this model has a long tradition of excellent results in the formation resulting from the student.
- Channels Distinction Major Sources of Information: distinguish the objectives and functions of each information source or type of reference works, regardless of format and media is essential prior to any query. That is, each medium requires a vocabulary and a way to interpret or express doubts about which we gather information.
- Introduction to Search and Browse Information Sources: You generally do not know how to use all the features and tools that allow online retrieval systems, as well as reference works in electronic paper. This also facilitates the work "to cut and paste" the little interest in learning more about a specific subject or just apathy generated by the difficulty that in itself represents the effort of collecting, reason and express. Therefore, if you do not provide the tools and habituated from early childhood to the intensive use of all types of library materials and informational, in a theoretical and applied, the end result is seen catastrophic, as might seem.
- Introduction to Selection, Argumentation and Contrast Information: University to allow the student to discriminate and be selective with the information downloads network, or in this case of Wikipedia, in addition to providing critical thinking and compared between different sources, properly cited.
- application of these techniques in the preparation of papers: Finally the last step that have to do is incorporate these techniques are the jobs. It is at this point that the student must demonstrate and grow or evolve to be conscious of the views dominate regarding the object of study.
These skills and knowledge should be learned from the focus Librarian - Documentary and Teacher, the latter which permits direct the gaze of college to a subject specific knowledge. It is vital therefore that the approach or methodology used for learning is compatible with these variables. Other ideas, likely to be applicable and indeed are being implemented although results are reserved, is the creation of real exchange forums, which promote curiosity and interest of college students, encouraging their own creations and criticism, which could participate as qualified professionals. This formula, also called "Virtual Campus" is changing to other modes or ways of self-taught, such as Professional Journals, which has been shown cognitive evolution thereof, from the stage of completion and achievement of grade or degree.
8 .- Conclusion.
Finally, we conclude that there is a fundamental problem, which is the educational and cultural base where students are accustomed and in many cases, find themselves, coupled with a society increasingly malleable or lime leaves rivers run and pierce its original context information without causing major flooding, not gaps in their interpretation. Anyway, in our hands is to change this situation and take steps to make those who come, people's mind and well-trained, and with regard to new technologies and information available online, that allow and promote the work evaluator, documentary, broadcast contrast and make the documentary, people who work on their part that collaboration with other professionals, given their training for such activities of vital importance for the improvement of the information.
know anything worth more than all, to know everything about one thing.
Blaise Pascal.
