Reflection - Print and Electronic Sources

After reading Tina Sherlock's post about electronic resources, I asked the Program Director at the District Resource Centre (DRC) her thoughts about ordering resources, such as World Book in the hard copy format, or using the online database version (Our library purchased a new set of World Books last year). She said, "Why order World Book when there is easy access through the databases?" "It saves a lot of money that could be used elsewhere." My thoughts are that if you want students to access the databases, then they must be taught how to use them at as many opportunities as possible. It is the same with learning most activities: you must keep doing the activity before it becomes second nature.

I do not buy as many non-fiction books as I weed because of student preferences for electronic resources. If there is information online that takes into consideration content scope, authority, accuracy, bias, presentation, relations to similar works, and timeliness, I will save money. However, it is still important to buy one or two books on a broad range of topics. Not all students want to do all their research on the Internet; books provide a focus for research projects without getting bogged down in too much information.