telophase | (no subject)

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i should make a da tag

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I shall post this one un-f-locked, to allow everyone in on the fun. This grew out of a little bout of snark over a nimrod on DA getting pissy because nobody wanted to do his homework for him.

First I got irritated, then I got silly. (Yes, Steal-OK is me at the moment: see previous LJ entry.)

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ROFLMAO! Poor little twerp, I wonder when s/he is going to figure out what's going on ... if at all ... .

And I'm engaging in SUBTERFUGE! I have just replied seriously to him/her using my telophase DA login! We'll see if I'm ever connected to Steal-OK...

*sporfle* I totally want to see his final presentation including the turnip carvings.

LOL! Wow. That'll teach the precious little darling to double check his sources. Now I want turnips.

*gives you Lichtensteinian turnip borscht*

OWNED. *grin*

(and I dread to think what his place of study is like if his tutor really did say he could cite Wikipedia as a source)

Our history teacher told us we could site it, but that we had to check else-where to prove its facts, and not make it our ONLY source.

But yeah it isn't the best source.

cite*

-____-;

I'm guessing that's what the teachers the other person was claiming allowed Wikipedia *really* said, and the kid is either deliberately misrepresenting it, or completely failed to understand what "check your facts" means.

I like to use Wikipedia as a starting point, because the way Google works, you'll zero in on good information much faster if you have a set of relevant vocabulary - names, places, dates, whatever - to use in your search. Then I use the nuggets I get from Wiki to seed searches limited to .gov, .edu, and maybe .org sites, for starters.

But I'm also used to checking the fine print on my online sources. I had to work hard for a few weeks to train our new weekly health column person about appropriate sources. For example, don't bother to use a manufacturer of dietary supplements as a source in an article about whether you need to take vitamins if you're eating a balanced diet ... . XD

Schools aren't being very good about helping kids learn these things.

A few months ago, I had to help someone in the nursing graduate program here understand that just because the author of an article on the Web had "M.D." after their name didn't mean that the website counted as a scholarly, peer-reviewed publication. Especially when it was a site similar to the one you mention.

I also once fielded a telephone call from someone in the same program asking for evidence-based research on the efficacy of acupuncture for treating otitis media* and again had to explain "peer-reviewed". The professors sure aren't doing it.

* Found none. I brightly suggested that maybe this was an area that needed more research and that the student should think about that as a project, instead of suggesting that there was none because nobody took it seriously. I don't think they were too impressed with that idea. :)

* I'm also guessing that "many teachers" means "one of my teachers once said.."

High five. XD With a cherry on top.

ROFL!! That's awesome...

why, oh WHY are you so MENOPAUSIC!

I hope the kid really does copy those comments; his teacher would get a good laugh.

Don't you just love the assumption that all librarians are old women that's implied in that "menopausic" comment?

This tops off a good librarian day (post to come on that later in my LJ). I am going to copy [most of] that conversation in DA and save it for future use. You've done a great job on defining how to use Wikipedia.

:D And s/he doesn't even think to question why some ancient old woman would be hanging out on DeviantArt. XD

Thanks! :D

:loves you:

Aliums! Our Lady of the Citrus! The Cathedral!

Any bets on how old the student in question is?

I'm surprised nobody suggested throwing a dictionary at him or her along with the hints to take a Typing 101 course and Basic Internet Etiquette 095 course. Also, someone ought to teach this person how to ask a specific question. I would have said something snarky like, "Yeah, what do you want to know about him?" X-D

Aye. A minimum of 3 different reasonably scholarly sources is my ideal - preferrably if I can avoid using Wiki at all. It annoys the heck out of me that so many "reference" sites are quoting Wiki word for word now. -_-

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