14 Randall McClure’s “Googlepedia: Turning Information Behaviors into Research Skills”
Writing Spaces Volume 2
In this chapter, McClure addresses the common habit of student writers to turn to both Google and Wikipedia to begin their research. Over the years, instructors of writing have dismissed this method of research as being appropriate for the writing classroom. However, McClure discusses ways to make space for composition students to begin at these sites of interrogation and move to more academic spaces to conduct deeper research, such as the university library. McClure asserts that students need support and direction to understand the benefits of researching at the university library. This chapter offers a blend of case study, narrative, reflection, and questions for both instructors and student writers to consider when developing their own research habits. A takeaway from this chapter will be how students in first-year writing classrooms might take a blended approach to research—from both Googlepedia and the university library.
“I admit that finding information quickly and effortlessly is certainly alluring. But what about the reliability of information you find? Do you ever question if the information you find is really accurate or true? If you have, then please know that you are not alone in your questions. You might even find some comfort in my belief that conducting sound academic research is more challenging now than at any other time in the history of the modern university.”
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MLA Citation Examples
Works Cited
McClure, Randall. “Googlepedia: Turning Information Behaviors into Research Skill.” Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing Volume 2, edited by Charles Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky, Parlor Press, 2011, pp. 221-241.
In-text citation
“I admit that finding information quickly and effortlessly is certainly alluring. But what about the reliability of the information you find? Do you ever question if the information you find is really accurate or true? If you have, then please know that you are not alone in your questions. You might even find some comfort in my belief that conducting sound academic research is more challenging now than at any other time in the history of the modern university” (McClure 222).
References
McClure, R. (2011). Googlepedia: Turning informatoin behaviors into research skills. In Charles Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky (Eds.), Writing spaces: readings on writing, vol. 2 (pp. 221-241). New York: Parlor Press.
In-text citation
“I admit that finding information quickly and effortlessly is certainly alluring. But what about the reliability of the information you find? Do you ever question if the information you find is really accurate or true? If you have, then please know that you are not alone in your questions. You might even find some comfort in my belief that conducting sound academic research is more challenging now than at any other time in the history of the modern university” (McClure, 2011, p. 222).
Chicago Citation Examples
Bibliography
McClure, Randall. “Googlepedia: Turning Information Behaviors into Research Skills,” in Writing Spaces: Reading on Writing Volume 2, ed. Charles Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky (New York: Parlor Press, 2011), 221-241.
In-text citation
“I admit that finding information quickly and effortlessly is certainly alluring. But what about the reliability of the information you find? Do you ever question if the information you find is really accurate or true? If you have, then please know that you are not alone in your questions. You might even find some comfort in my belief that conducting sound academic research is more challenging now than at any other time in the history of the modern university” (McClure, 2011, 222).
About the author
name: Volume 2 Writing Spaces
institution: Parlor Press and WAC Clearinghouse
Released in 2010, the first issue of Writing Spaces was edited by Drs. Charles Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky. In addition to the Writing Spaces Website, volume 2 can be accessed through WAC Clearinghouse, as well as Parlor Press.
From Parlor Press
Volume 2 continues the tradition of the previous volume with topics, such as the rhetorical situation, collaboration, documentation styles, weblogs, invention, writing assignment interpretation, reading critically, information literacy, ethnography, interviewing, argument, document design, and source integration.
From WAC Clearinghouse
Charles Lowe is Assistant Professor of Writing at Grand Valley State University where he teachers composition, professional writing, and Web design. Pavel Zemliansky is Associate Professor in the School of Writing, Rhetoric, and Technical Communication at James Madison University.
