Google skills lacking among students

A series of studies, known as the Ethnographic Research in Illinois Academic Libraries Project (ERIAL), by five Illinois universities has revealed that students lack crucial skills when it comes to searching the web. The project followed 60 students who were given a topic to narrow down via research done through any search engine or database of their choosing.

Google came out on top as the lead search engine, but what project researchers have found is that the students are not using the search engine efficiently to accurately narrow down their searches. They also discovered that when students used other databases to find information, they used them like they would use Google.

The students also poorly evaluated the content they were able to find. UNA will be implementing the quality enhancement plan in order to meet the requirements of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools next year. The program will be weaved throughout the university to enhance specific skills to better prepare graduates to be successful.

One area the plan may focus on is preparing the students to accurately, efficiently and successfully research using the Internet and all of its available content.

“The QEP will equip students in all disciplines with lifelong skills to find answers to questions that intrigue them, and to evaluate the quality of those answers,” said Dr. Phil Bridgmon, UNA professor and member of the QEP planning team. “It will also improve writing, research and library skills. All are foundational to success as a citizen and in professional life. If the QEP is successful, one of the byproducts will be a student, which we all are, who is better at Googling.”

Dr. Bill Huddleston, a professor of research methodologies in communications, believes that the QEP will help students use Google more effectively.

“When you graduate, you will encounter already obsolete information,” said Huddleston. “The student able to use research methods efficiently and who knows how to solve problems will survive the longest. If the QEP is set up correctly throughout the curriculum, it will definitely help students refine their abilities to use Google. The assignments in the courses should also be tailored to using other, more specific databases. However, if the assignments don’t mandate using other databases, then why not use Google?”

UNA students are hopeful about the QEP.

“Other databases aren’t set up as easy as Google,” said Tasha McKinney, a general chemistry major. “I use Google every day. Hopefully, the QEP will make it easier for me to analyze what I gather from other databases better.”

UNA offers many research tools to students, such as the Center for Writing Excellence and specialized librarians.