In one of the emails, I learned that my high school might abandon its AP Literature and AP Language programs due to low enrollment. I had heard from various people that Hart wasn't doing so well these days, but both these classes were really amazing, and this news seems very sad to me. The English department was one of Hart's greatest strengths (okay, after football, football, and football, but still). Once we all went off to college, one thing we all agreed on, year after year, is that the Hart English department did a fantastic job of preparing us.
Anyways, I'm not sure what will happen with this, but I tried to read the school newsletter to find out more. Instead, I got completely sidetracked by a blurb in the Library News section, entitled "Don't Just Google" (and please note that all the bolding is theirs):
According to Esther Grassian, librarian at UCLA, professors are denying the use of search engines such as Yahoo, Alta Vista, and Google. Instead, they are limiting students’ research to books on reserve in the library and licensed databases. WHY?
1. Search engines rob students of the skills needed to conduct research.
2. Information retrieved from the Internet is not authoritative.
3. Students must be able to conduct research on their own.
It emphasized the importance of being "Lifelong Learners" (bolding and capitalization still theirs) and using sources such as something called "ProQuest Sirs Knowledge Source" instead of search engines. (Has anyone even heard of that?)
I was especially amused that they put AltaVista up there. When was the last time AltaVista was more popular than Google? Maybe someone's lifelong learning stopped a decade ago? Anyways, when I walk into my cube tomorrow, I will think about how I am actually robbing the students.
