News Report # 2

"DC Public Library Budget Is Cut 11 Percent
Sunday branch hours eliminated"
Lynn Blumenstein -- Library Journal, 9/21/2009
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6698002.html

The District of Columbia’s public library is taking quite a drastic budget cut. Along with these budget cuts there will also be a shortage of hours when the Library is actually open. After October, the Library will no longer be open on Sunday’s. This is a dilemma because many frequent visitors and users of the Library tend to find Sunday one of the most convenient and leisure days that they have. Cutting this day out of the Libraries schedule may cause conflict within the institution. On one side, it’s easy because the employees do not mind having there Sundays off; however, as was said before it’s a large inconvenience to library frequenters. They plan on using volunteers to help fill gaps that will occur from the budget cut. The District of Columbia Library’s book mobile will also not be under use any longer. With a total of 11% budget costs, the Library will have many aspects that they must attend to in order to make the budget cut work.

I believe that this is most likely just one of many other stories that are like it. Library’s budgets seem to be decreasing almost everywhere you go, while the price for entities such as scholarly journals is rising ever more. This is a dilemma which will have to be faced eventually. It’s impossible for Library’s to continue providing the same services and amount of information while they have less money and the resources that they need are growing ever more in value. This rough period will have to be ridden out by Library’s around the globe in hope for a time where more money is available.

Reading Report # 2

Wikipedia has become an ever-growing controversial subject and many scholars around the world are attempting to end the argument of whether it will eventually be useful in academia. Studies have been done to attempt to reveal how easy it is to place faulty information within the websites, and the findings have been somewhat stunning. One man placed seven pieces of faulty information on the site and found that within 3 hours of the postings they were edited and removed from the webpage. On the other hand, there have been cases where information has remained on the website for up to 4 months. Wikipedia has taken a noted dedication towards improving the accuracy of the information within their site, moving away from the focus of a broad depth of information. Topics that are viewed the most frequently are for the most part accurate to a T; however; it is topics such as art and folk history that are not viewed as frequently that tend to be more easily misinformed.

I believe that Wikipedia will eventually become the number one source for information throughout the World Wide Web. As the story has said, studies have already shown that much of the information on Wikipedia is already closing on accuracy-wise on encyclopedia such as Britannica and other highly prestigious entities. If I ever find myself needing the answer to a random fact I typically find myself using Google which in turn sends me to Wikipedia. The way it’s setup allows it to draw from the most sources in the most efficient manner, creating a situation that demands attention. While I believe there will be more controversy in the future surrounding this subject, I believe that ultimately Wikipedia and its innovators will win out.

Reading Report # 1

Fake websites are becoming more and more concurrent on the internet in today’s society. There are many different instances of these sits, ranging from parody sites, malicious sites, hoax sites, and also counterfeit sites. Each of these examples can be easily found on the web if searched for properly. Counterfeit sites are among the most disturbing because they present an idea that seems to support or represent a specific person or idea when in fact they are doing the exact opposite. Parody websites are mainly existent for the idea of making a joke or mocking news. There are numerous parody websites such as the Onion News that are used in a wrong manner because of the misconception of such sites. They are not actually academic in value or aspect but are made as a joke. Misinformation is one of the key concepts when it comes to talking about the majority of these websites. They present ideas which in most scenarios are actually illegitimate. It’s important that when searching the web that one pays particular attention to intricacies and authenticity of websites. Looking closely at a website is important in this day and age if one wishes to validate information that they are reading.
I think it’s quite surprising after reading this article in how many websites that contain misinformation are out there. Not just the fact that the websites contain misinformation is the only surprising aspect; it is the fact that they disguise it so well. Most of the websites discussed in the reading look 100% legitimate and it’s a bit disturbing that so many entities are being misrepresented. The story definitely opened my eyes to realize how many spoofs and hoaxes are out on the World Wide Web.