Information Access
Be Informed & Take Control!
Explore the issues…
Controlling Information Access
Who has control of our access to information?
Who should have the control?
Think about this:
When you access search
engines or databases or
catalogs to search for
information, you are
accessing information
sources selected by
someone else. And only
what they have chosen.
And you have access to
what others have given you,
presented by others.
You are reading what they are
presenting to you—that is,
you are reading someone else’s
packaging, labeling, and
coloring of the information too.
This can become problematic…
Beware!
Our access to information can be
dangerously limited, especially when:
One controlling entity becomes too
powerful.
We rely on just one search tool.
Any time we rely on others to do our
selecting for us.
Barbara Fister. “Information is Power, Even
When It’s Wrong.” ACRLog. September 11, 2008
. 12 July 2009 .
http://acrlog.org/2008/09/11/information-ispower-even-when-its-wrong
A case in point:
Read the blog article for a recent
case in point, “Information is
Power, Even When It’s Wrong” by
Barbara Fister (2008) . The article
speaks about a costly mistake of
giving control to someone else for
the critical selection and
examination of information.
What are the 4 main issues
in the blog article?
Challenges to Information Access
In the blog article by Fister (2008), there are 4 issues that represent unique challenges
we face when we seek information and search for others’ research, because the access
to the information and the research is determined by others:
1.
Just as there are standards in citing sources, publishing standards in indexing
and searching are needed to prevent costly mistakes.
2.
Critical thinking about the information sources and the information we choose to
use is our responsibility, and there is nothing more important when we research.
3.
Sometimes those who collect, search, and provide information can be misleading,
whether intentional or unintentional.
4.
Google (and other similar companies) are too powerful for us to ignore the
previous three points made. As stated in the article, “ Google [and others like it]
has enormous power to direct culture through the control of information .”
What about research databases?
Barbara Fister. “Information is Power, Even When It’s Wrong.” ACRLog. September
11, 2008 . 12 July 2009 . http://acrlog.org/2008/09/11/information-is-power-evenwhen-its-wrong
What about research databases?
Database publishers, too, have
control over our access to the
research, making decisions as to
which journals, which authors, range
of years, perspectives, etc., to include
or exclude from their search tools.
Don’t be satisfied with selecting
one or two databases without
thinking about the scope of coverage
in content and journals, the
perspectives provided, or reliability
of the resources covered.
How then do we respond to these
selections and limitations others
make for us?
 By using multiple search tools,
multiple sources of information.
 By double-checking and verifying
information
What do all of these
factors mean for us?
What does this mean for us?
Selection:
These are factors that impact
our selection of search tools
and resources:
 Select multiple ones
 Determine any potential
bias and attempt to correct
for it by selecting
additional resources or
alternatives
 Determine any potential
weighting of results that
you might find
Search ability:
These factors also impact our
ability to search and find:
 You need access to multiple
search tools to find all of what
you need
 If publishers have decided a
particular viewpoint should not
be represented, you may have
difficulty searching and finding
what you need on that topic
Additional factors in Selection…
Fee-based vs. Open Access Issues
Cost can be a deterrent to
obtaining the information we
need. If access is not affordable, we
look elsewhere. If it isn’t in a library
or corporation’s budget to purchase
or sustain a subscription to a
database, then access is discontinued.
For over a decade, authors of news
and research have made references to
a potential growing “digital divide”
between those who have access and
those who do not, most frequently
based on cost and economics.
When we select our resources, we tend to
factor in these questions:
• Is the information free or affordable?
• Is it readily available through a
subscription?
• Can I use a library database and get
what I need without going elsewhere?
Scan through the results of a simple
search for “digital divide” and poverty in
Academic Search Complete. You will find
that the articles show the many ways in
which cost, income level, and national
economy can impact access
and use of information.
A trend toward open access…
Open Access Movement
Did you know that even some of
Subscription-based providers select
your peers are involved in
the content they choose to include.
opening access to research?
Researchers (or the university libraries,
Open Students is an advocacy
corporations, or institutions to which they
group of students who are for
belong) then pay for access to that
open access to research. Open
content.
Students defines open access as
Due to the often prohibitive costs of
“an alternative to the traditional
closed, subscription-access
that access and to the fact that the content
system of scholarly
to which they have access is determined
communication” in its Student
by others, there is a growing trend toward
Statement on the Right to
investigating means of using open-access
Research .
resources and publishing research for
open access—that is, free and unrestricted
Open Students. “Student Statement on the Right to Research .”
access to that type of content.
N.d. 12 July 2009 http://www.righttoresearch.org
Take control…
Take as Much Control as you Can
Be as aware as possible of the limitations
before you.
Use as many search tools and avenues
as you can to ensure you get access to
as much as you can.
And be aware of what you can’t get access
too—how that might color the picture you see.
Need assistance?
Need assistance?
Ask a librarian:
 www.ohiodominican.edu/library/help/ask
 [email protected]
 614.251.4574