I think research is like a treasure hunt, you know what you are looking for at least basically, but you never truly know what you will find. I think it was a lot easier pre-computers. Whatever you found in the card catalog was a reliable source. You didn’t need to worry if it was someone’s personal website, a class website or a wiki, etc. We knew how to use a book’s index to look for information and would read in search of the information; it was no big deal.
Today, though, kids treat books like they are covered in poison. They will touch them only if forced. Then they have no idea how to look for information. Usually they will look in the table of contents and if it’s not there they stop. If by chance they happen upon a page that just might contain information needed, they don’t see it. They expect it to jump of the page at them, screaming “I’m here, you need me!”
Today’s student automatically turns to the internet whenever they need information. They fire up Google and go to town. Chances are pretty good that the first entry will be for Wikipedia, but can the information found there be trusted? Well, now, there is no way to know for sure. Even for someone who knows how to differentiate between a site that maybe shouldn’t be trusted and one that can, it sometimes is hard to tell. Of course, none of that matters much if the text once again isn’t blinking “I’m here, this is it!”
Teach them the note card method of gathering information and they ask, “I have 7 cards, is that enough?” They answer always is: it doesn’t matter how many cards you have, what matter is the amount of information you have. Why note cards over cut and paste? The answer to that is simple: plagiarism. Who needs to make their own sentences when they are already on the page for you?
Dictionary.com defines plagiarism as “the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one’s own original work.” According to Plagiarism.org there are many different types of plagiarism, some of which are hard to detect. This is perhaps why it is so hard to get the younger researchers (middle school students) to understand exactly what plagiarism is and different ways to avoid falling into that trap.
This of course, leads to another problem: the quality of their writing. That, though is a topic for another day.
