d) None of the Above

Dave, Dave, you’ve gotta shed some light on this: I keep getting email messages – spam – for different drugs, and I’m getting a bit curious about what each one does… I’ve kept a list and this week alone I’ve had the chance to buy all of the following drugs from online pharmacies at a huge discount: vicodin, xanax, valium, cialis, vioxx, oxycontin, viagra, ativan, botox, levitra, ambien and phentermine. Talk about alphabet soup! What ARE these drugs? And, by the way, why are there so many Vioxx lawyers trying to get me to join their lawsuits?

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Dave, I’m very concerned about the “search engine” approach to doing research. I think it’s useless as training for doing real research, encourages children to acquire just the superficial facts, skimming along the surface of information rather than learning the real story on any given topic.

The first use of computers for research should be learning how to find books at the library. Second, students should learn how to use physical encyclopedias and online encyclopedias. Third, students should be introduced to online periodical indexes. The use of search engines should be the last “skill” to be introduced and should be combined with a discussion of the commercial underpinnings of the system and the various ways that results are manipulated.

You seem to be pretty deep in the world of search engines and online research. Do you agree with what I’m saying?

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