Wednesday, March 31, 2010

The Web and Misinformation

THE other day I was reminded once again of what a font of misinformation the Web can be.

A student in my high school library declared that he "hated" the new healthcare plan passed by Congress and pushed by the White House.

Why? I asked. Because, of course, "Those poor women will get knocked up every week and get an abortion every week." And, apparently we now have a Communist system, like Russia. Doctors will go "bankrupt," like England, he told me.

Not everybody agrees on healthcare -- we all have our own opinion of the new legislation -- but I think any informed person can recognize the lack of facts here.

Where are you getting this, I asked? "The Internet," he replied, as if saying, Where else?

For more thoughts on this phenomenon, see this article, "Young Learners Need Librarians, Not Just Google," that was published in Forbes Magazine.

And then there's my op-ed that ran in the Los Angeles Times, "Saving the Google Students."

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