Remolacio, Hazel M.

HUNT FOR SOURCES

The class visited the university's main library last April 22 as
part of the activity for English 2, and the task was to gather fifteen
references that would be useful in writing our library research paper.
Since the main library is scarce with printed books about politics and
media, which are the subects of my research, ! had to rely on the
internet in locating useful references. "ith the nature of my topic, !
also utili#ed the articles in the newspaper collection of the library.
$athering information through the internet proves to be difficult.
%ifferent sites have different purposes for giving information. &or
this reason, the reliability of the content, and the credibility of
the authors or sites must be carefully evaluated. !n addition, the
internet provides thousands of materials of different kinds. Though
searching was made efficient through the use of keywords and search
bo'es, skimming each possible source takes time, and missing
references that might be significant to the research is also a
possibility. !t is also not helpful that newspapers do not provide
online inde'es of past articles, and that most of the articles on the
newspaper's official site are not published in the newspaper.
(eing restricted to use at most three electronic references also
makes gathering information tough. Thought it is understandable given
that many sites offer information that are not reliable, it also means
that more attention must be given in locating digital copies of
printed sources in the internet. )owever, it is difficult to know if
the pdf copies provided by websites were also printed. *appler, a site
widely known for its credibility in ournalism, provides in its site a
variety of articles about the 2+,- elections. The only problem is that
it does not publish the articles in the site. .ikewise, government
agencies also use the internet in providing the public with
information. The official website of /01E.E/ gives the resolutions and
guidelines passed by the body last 2+,- national and local elections,
but it does not give pdf copies of the e'act documents.
Though it is difficult, gathering refereces is a crucial part of
research. The reliablity of the information that different sources
give should be carefully evaluated, for only reliable information from
Remolacio, Hazel M.
credible sources can effectively support the thesis. The task may be
tiring, but it is also provides the challenge that makes it enoyable
and rewarding.