News Report #4

LIB 103
Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Kathryn Smith

Schools, libraries see hundreds of requests to ban books
By Ledyard King, Gannett News Service

In this article, it discusses the issue that every year numerous public libraries and public schools receive requests from parents, public officials and activists demanding certain book they see as inappropriate be removed. Such book topics include literary classics, and human sexuality manuals. According to the American Library Association, even dictionaries are occasionally requested to be removed.

To my surprise, this has been going on since 1990, but the number of cases in which a book was removed has declined over time according to one source. American Library Association officials say they know of 420 requests for books to be removed from schools and libraries in the year 2007.

One example of a book mentioned in the article is John Steinbeck’s, Of Mice and Men. This was a book I was required to read in high school and is on the high school reading lists across the country. But this classic novel from time to time also appears on a list of books that some parents want pulled from shelves because they believe it contains strong use of vulgar language, sexual content or there are many other reasons for them wanting it removed. I find this somewhat ridiculous considering at this age majority of the students have had some type of Sex Education course and are already aware of topics discussed in the novel.

From my experience, and knowledge of this novel, do not find this book inappropriate for high-schoolers to be exposed to. Although there may have been some reference to crude language or sexual content, I do not feel as though it took away from the meaning and storyline of the novel and what instructors are trying to get from their students when asked to read this book.

In other articles, relating to this one, they discuss the banning of books and also discuss setting age limits on books for children as well. I believe this is understood of course if a young child attempts to read/view a book which is apparent to be out of his or her level of maturity, but overall should not be a big issue. Children as they learn and mature throughout school, do not all acquire equivalent reading levels. Some are stronger readers while some take longer to acquire reading skills. A seven year old might be an above average reader and want to read a book or novel labeled at a ten year olds level. I do not think this is fair for students or anyone, to be deprived of their exploration for knowledge or reading.

Personally I feel there are larger issues children and teenagers are exposed to in the world that parents or officials need to be more concerned about than whether or not certain novels assigned in the classroom are inappropriate or not.

Reading Response #3

The Infodiet: How Libraries Can Offer an Appetizing Alternative to Google

Kathryn Smith
LIB 103
Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Discussed in the article, is the comparison of Google to Libraries when searching for information. Libraries are trying to figure out ways to compete with Google and appeal more to students through library resources, such as for example, here at UNCW, our Online Library Catalog, when searching the web. Today, many argue they prefer to use a technique that allows quick and multiple amounts of information to gather for whatever purpose; for example, a research paper. Traditionalist librarians or faculty members might argue stating research isn’t supposed to be convenient or easy. It’s a process of discovery in which one mines for new information, searches and thoroughly reads into it, and ultimately discovers the facts needed to produce a well-written paper.
What made this article interesting to me was how they compared Google and use of a library’s resources to good and bad food, “infoobesity” and “infodiet”. James Morris, the dean of the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, describes the outcome of Google-ized research as “a junk-information diet, consisting of overwhelming amounts of low-quality material that is hard to digest and leads to research papers of equally low quality.” In contrast, Libraries resources, such as catalogs and databases are a way for students to “infodiet” allowing them to cut out the bad, “unhealthy” information. The only problem is this actually getting students to move from “infoobesity” to “infodieting”. Students need to understand by “infodieting” users can migrate from low-quality websites to the high-quality information libraries provide.
I am one of the many who fall under the “infoobesity” when it comes to finding information. Reading this article, I do agree there is better information out there provided by our libraries that I am still unaware of and still hard at understanding how to use. As my own suggestion in getting students in the habit of using these catalogs and databases provided at UNCW, I think it would be good to make it a requirement for incoming freshman; like in the class Freshman Seminar; to do a focus on Library Information and how to utilize it. It would also help if teachers made requirements in using the library catalogs for students when writing papers. For one of my freshman English classes, my professor made us get information to cite our paper from the library catalog; where we had to have at least 6 sources, and only two of them could be from the internet, such as Google. I believe this helped me gather an understanding and helped me become aware of other ways to collect information. If this was strongly enforced in more classes, Students will become more and more aware of the resources available, allowing them to get a better understanding, as well as familiarize themselves with how to use it. Eventually it may become more and more habitual for students to try using these catalogs and databases versus Google every time, when they need to write a research paper.