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Statement on Electronic Information
The past few years have seen an explosion in the volume of electronic information
available to students and researchers. The Internet has made it very easy to
locate, manipulate, and print information on a wide variety of topics. However,
there is often confusion concerning the nature and value of electronic information.
The following propositions may ameliorate some of this confusion.
- The storage of information in an electronic medium is neither good nor bad.
It is simply a new method of information storage and communication, analogous
to print, microform, and other media.
- The Web contains a great deal of unfiltered information that is often generated
without the benefit of a formal editorial process. As such this information
needs to be looked at even more critically than one would a printed source.
- The SDSU Library subscribes to a large number of scholarly databases that
often contain the full text of journal articles. These databases are often
called "aggregator" databases since they collect or aggregate many different
journals together. The information contained in the full text journal articles
found in these databases is almost always exactly the same as what appears
in the print version of the journal. (Note: Some of our databases contain
a mixture of scholarly and non-scholarly information, including popular magazines,
newspapers, and non-peer reviewed journals. However, this fact should not
detract from the main point here, which is that electronic information is
essentially the same as its print analog).
- The SDSU Library subscribes to a growing number of full text electronic
journals. Again, these e-journals contain exactly the same information as
their print counterparts. In some cases, of course, the e-journal is an original
publication with no print analog.
- Both aggregator databases and electronic journals should be distinguished
from other information found on the Web. The Web covers a wide spectrum
of information sources, from scholarly papers and official governmental publications
to personal opinion and unreliable conjecture. Aggregator databases and electronic
journals almost always go through a rigorous filtering process that ensures
the reliability of the information contained therein. The Web for the most
part has no such mechanism. While many aggregator databases and electronic
journals use the Internet to distribute their information and often use
a Web type interface, they should not be confused with "the Web" in terms
of the content and authority of their information.
- Reliable information can be found in books, journals, magazines, and newspapers.
However, scholarly communication today in most disciplines relies on peer
reviewed journals for authoritative information. Peer reviewed journal articles
contain original research, go through a rigorous review and editorial process,
and are an integral part of the scholarly research and communication process.
Students should understand that the authority of information depends not
on the medium of the information but on other factors such as
content, peer acceptance, and provenance. Thus, information in an electronic
format is no more or no less authoritative and reliable than information in
a print format. All information sources, regardless of format or medium, should
be viewed critically. Cf. the SDSU
Guide to Evaluating Sources of Information.
- It is important to encourage students to use both print and electronic
sources in documenting their research and referencing the scholarly literature.
In most cases, aggregator databases and electronic journals contain the same
scholarly information as is found in print journals. Limiting literature searches
to printed sources implicitly denies the validity of electronic scholarly
journals and databases. We want students to have an efficient and productive
research experience, and we believe that this is less likely to occur when
these students are restricted in their survey of the literature from utilizing
electronic resources. While we recognize the dangers of uncritical acceptance
of any new technology, we affirm the value and importance of technological
progress as an adjunct to research and learning. We encourage faculty and
students alike to engage in scholarship that critiques information by analyzing
its content, presentation, origin, and methodology. We discourage research
that associates authority and reliability with storage and distribution methods.
Mark Stover
SDSU Reference Librarian
This page http://infodome.sdsu.edu/faculty/electronic-information.shtml is maintained by Mark Stover.
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File saved 07/24/01 13:15 PDT
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