> Since use of a full-text online retreival system like Lexis or Westlaw is
> such an inferior method of conducting research in the first place, I
> firmly beleive that it should be put in its place: it should be given no
> special treatment at all. Many looseleaf and treatise sources as well as
> fiche sources such as the CIS set, are far more complicated to use and
> more practical than Lexis or Westlaw ever will be. So, do we have special
> training on the use of looseleafs? No, we teach the kids how to find the
> information they need and we ignore the format. I think that its time to
> start ignoring the computer format. Who cares if its online? Many
> student intuitively know how to use computers and will figure it out
> without our help, just the way they figure out how to use CCH, or BNA
> services.
>
> The corollary to this is that we need to double (triple? quadruple?) our
> efforts to teach students the best way to use/find information and to not
> always assume that just because its on computer it must be the best
> format.
>
> Here we waited until second semester to handout passwords and it worked
> OK. That is, the kids didn't complain too much. I think that the
> important thing to do is to put CALR firmly in perspective: its a lousy
> way to do research and there are all sorts of objective evidences that
> prove it. If you impress on the students that they can really screw up
> using CALR even a little, it usually gets through to them.
Amen!
At Pace, we have instructed in the first semester and in the second
and in both. There is no clear advantage to any starting date. The
only really crucial element is the content and the quality of the
instruction. If the teaching is good, the learning is OK. If the
teaching is bad, what can you expect?
Personally, I am a firm believer in library freedom. It is wrong to
have resources and deny them to our users. I would no more deny
Lexis or Nexis to a student than tell them they could not read the
New York Times, or use one of the legal encyclopedias.
==================================================
Internet: NTRIFFIN@LAWLIB.LAW.PACE.EDU :-)
;-)
Nick Triffin Tel: (914) 422-4275 |-)
Pace Law Library Fax: (914) 422-4139 ;-)
78 North Broadway %-)
White Plains, NY 10603 ;-)
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