Library News and Events
Writing final papers is never an easy experience. Deadlines loom as the blank page cries for attention, and once the writing begins, where shall you find the sources that will win your paper, "An Exposition on Perfection: The History of Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches", the vaunted A+?
If your gold-plated sources will come from the internet, there are Five Basic Things to consider before citing that first webpage resource: Accuracy, Authority, Objectivity, Currency and Coverage. Accuracy relates to the qualifications of the source. Would you take skateboarding lessons from these guys? Probably not, since we don't know who they are or how to contact them. If we can't determine, with any accuracy, who created the source, then we can't be sure if the information itself is accurate.
Without accuracy, authority is that much harder to determine. Is the writer a credible and authoritative source on the issue at hand? This guy would probably be a great swim coach. These guys would not be good moral or ethical coaches. Also, did your source URL come from authoritative sources, like government or university sites? Plenty of unscrupulous people create websites in the hopes of reeling in the uninformed--don't be one of them!
Objectivity, especially when discussed in concert with medical information or education, should always be a concern when evaluating sources. If leprechauns were the only group interviewed in a study of cereals, the favored cereal wouldn't be hard to guess. Make sure that your source isn't compromised by outside interests.
In 1954, Popular Mechanics magazine published an article which claimed that "The home computer of the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons". Not so much. Currency has shown us otherwise, and to a great degree. Similarly, medical references need to reflect current practices. Had Florence Nightingale not updated the profession of nursing in the 19th century, where would we be now? In medicine as in finance, currency is always best.
We've got almost everything covered, except for coverage (ha!). Is your source made up entirely of pictures? Are the citations correctly formatted? Would another researcher attempting to follow your citations have to register with a website or pay for the luxury of reading the full source material? Make your citations correct, relevant to the topic at hand, and easy to obtain and you can't go wrong!
So, about that paper on PBJs--which is better: Creamy or Chunky?
As this busy week at the library comes to a close, another one of our co-workers has decided to move on. Neal Smith Jr. is leaving us to pursue a Juris Doctor degree in the hopes of becoming one of the great minds of copyright law. Neal was instrumental in bringing the R.A. Williams Library into the fore of the internet age, implementing such features as a new Drupal content management system and our Symphony Integrated Library system used to administer the library collections. Not content to simply play the Head of Digital Services and Cataloging at the library, Neal also formulated a number of library specific guidelines and was the sole developer of our campus-wide copyright policy, helping to protect Florida Hospital College readers and writers alike.
Thoreau correctly noted that, "the law will never make men free, it is men that have to make the law free." And since it has been rightly said about Neal that his intellect is diamond-tipped, keen as the edge of a barber's blade, it is with no small amount of joy that we watch Neal sally forth into the wild world of the law. It shall certainly be the better for his addition to it. Many thanks, Neal! Goodluck and Godspeed!
After 18 years, Beck Hutchinson is leaving the Library to enjoy more time with her husband and garden. The Library is hosting a goodbye party for Beck this afternoon from 12-4. The Second Story of the Library will be closed during the party, but you are welcome to come and say goodbye to Beck.
Beck has been an essential part of the Library and will be missed. We wish her the best in her new endeavors.
