Submitted by vtdadbod007 t3_10xhu48 in vermont
vtdadbod007 OP t1_j7sqhtr wrote
Reply to comment by vermontitguy in A probably unpopular take on the VT State College Libraries by vtdadbod007
Over your time in higher Ed, do you see a trend of students who grew up with the internet being more intuitive at operating it as opposed to those who learned it later in life? For example if I didn’t know how to use an online library, I wouldn’t ask a person for help, I’d google how to use an online library, find a YouTube video or website explaining the general search process and what the terms mean, then I’d use an online library.
vermontitguy t1_j7sv0rv wrote
You seem quite self-sufficient. And, frankly, quite self-absorbed. While you may be very adept at learning skills on your own, it seems you're oblivious to the fact that everyone learns differently. Northeastern seems to have a robust library system, and it doesn't appear to be closing. In fact, their calendar of events includes workshops on using library resources. Imagine that. A library teaching people how to do research. People are not going to pay tuition for websites written by work-studies and AI. You started this thread saying it would be an unpopular take. I think, intuitively, you knew why that would be the case.
EDITED for typo
memorytheatre t1_j7t8b73 wrote
>oblivious to the fact that everyone learns differently
That myth has been proven to be incorrect and quite damaging to student learning. You self-righteous a-hole.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1539-6053.2009.01038.x
https://www.fraserinstitute.org/article/learning-styles-myth-damaging-our-education-system
flambeaway t1_j7tmjbh wrote
While I agree with the science on learning styles, it's pretty clear from context that (while they may not have used the best phrasing) the previous commenter is getting at the fact that different people, even of the same generation, have different knowledge bases and skills.
Trends aside, even Gen-Zers didn't pop out of the womb being great at scholarly internet research. Even though OP is a self-proclaimed master of it, many of their coursemates may not be depending on their experiences.
Twombls t1_j7ubtj4 wrote
Using the google and doing scholarly research withing an internal system are also like completely different skillsets. Something tells me that since op doesn't understand the importance of a librarian in even an online database. That he isn't really that good at doing scholarly research. In another comment he claims his school uses "AI" instead of librarians
FyuckerFjord t1_j7t6hap wrote
Just yesterday there was someone here saying how they graduated college and have a career, but it turns out they couldn't figure out how to find apartment listings online. Your faith in your fellow students is highly misguided.
PCPToad83 t1_j80g53r wrote
I’m actually a VSC student, and 1. There are absolutely people who still need help with online research, and library staff are an incredibly valuable resource for that 2. The books in the libraries here are amazing, and the leadership has zero business throwing them out. Not to mention, the library is basically the only thing to do or go to on some campuses.
captainogbleedmore t1_j7wtl89 wrote
Those that learned it later in life? The internet as we know it has been around since the early 90s and librarians in their 40s and 50s grew up with it. I'm only in my early 40s and was on BBS's in the late 80s. Prior to' 94 databases were housed on floppy disks and CDs. The literature and testing has shown that Millennials and GenZ are actually worse at research online because they lack basic information literacy skills. I teach information literacy to grad students in their 20s that have never heard about boolean operators, truncation, etc. They have no idea how to utilize the CRAAP test or how to access databases. Google has made people intellectually lazy, meanwhile we in the information science field are the ones that write and know how to navigate the metadata. It takes a master's degree to become an academic librarian for a reason.
random_vermonter t1_j7xbkjn wrote
Millennial here. I'm familiar with all of that. This generation-bashing has got to stop unless Gen X is prepared to have it thrown back in their faces. After all, they were the generation that were guinea pigs for kidnappings, lead poisoning and preventable deaths.
somedudevt t1_j7tug6d wrote
As a mid 30s person, it amazes me the number of dinosaurs on this REDDIT. Like I feel like I’m on the old side of acceptable Reddit users, but these people are arguing that college students need to be taught to use computers.
What the hell is the first 13 years of public education doing if it’s not teaching them that? I know in 2001 I was taking classes on how to use computers in HS, shit in 1998 we were learning to research online in 6th grade. By the time I got to college I had experience with Jstor and other scholarly journals, and utilizing things like LOC and the NYT archives.
Kids these days are born with tech in hand. My niece could find her cartoons on an iPad before she could form a full sentence and read.
I was probably on the early side of the no text book thing, I refused to buy them when I was at Lyndon, getting stuff I needed in digital form successfully most of the time. But as I progressed in my history and poli sci studies I never felt like I was struggling to get sources or access info.
Once a doc is digital it doesn’t need any maintenance, and anything that has value to society has been digitized in the last 40 years.
Twombls t1_j7ua2nk wrote
They don't need to be taught how to use computers. But when it comes to navigating an institutions internal library, yeah people need help with that. Its not always easy.
somedudevt t1_j7wvm17 wrote
Right but institutions don’t need libraries that’s the whole point. LSC doesn’t need a collection. JSC doesn’t need a collection. There is nothing in these libraries that can’t be found online, and when I was student teaching 15 years ago we were teaching 9th graders how to research, including accessing scholarly sites and collections. So yes at some point people need to be taught, but that is a middle and high school task. They should get to college knowing how to find sources.
ArkeryStarkery t1_j83gym6 wrote
Some public schools still can't afford that education. Yes, now. Yes, still.
Poverty is still real!
random_vermonter t1_j7xbcrh wrote
How does this post contribute to the discussion? You can't expect kids to know everything right out of the gate.
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