Promises and Pitfalls of Internet Research
Putting Internet Research into Perspective
Tips & Suggestions for Students
The problem of the vast amounts of largely irrelevant, inappropriate, and even dangerous, information available on the Internet, is well established. Oppenheimer claims that "the free nature of Internet information--means that students are confronted with chaos, and real dangers" (61), such racist, bigoted, paranoid, or dishonest material. Linda Anstendig and Jeanine Meyers from Pace University found that their students found more sources and recent information but "more garbage" (7). Robert H. Nigohosian of Salt Lake Community College reports that his students also found "junk information" (2); he calls the Internet an "unstructured information resource" (2) since there is no librarian, organization, or comprehensive index. Davis, the Ohio teacher, reports that his students often felt bewildered and overwhelmed by the information they found.
