Value choices are attributed to theFounding Fathers, not to the Court.

Society consents to be ruled undemocratically within defined areasby certain enduring principles believed to be stated in

dilemma is resolved in constitutional theory, and inpopular understanding, by the Supreme Court's power to define bothmajority and minority freedom through the interpretation of the Constitu-tion.

neither the majority nor the minority can be trusted tb define the freedomof the other.

majorities

never neutral because it embodies a choice of one value rather thananother

Warren Court

when is authority legitimate?

how constitutional doctrine should be evolved by courts a step or twofarther.

establish the necessity for theory

constitutional law is its lack oftheory

Neutral Principles and Some First AmendmentProblems

Use Wikipedia to get a sense of the topic and identify addi-tional search terms.2.Use Google to get a broader sense of the topic as well as verify information and test out search terms you found in Wikipedia.3.Search Google again using quotation marks around your “search terms” to manage the number of results and identify more useful search terms.4.Search Google Scholar (scholar.google.com) to apply the search terms in an environment of mostly academic and professional resources.5.Do a limited search of “recent results or “since 2000” on Google Scholar to manage the number of results and identify the most current resources.6.Search your college’s library research databases using your college library’s web portal: to apply the search terms in an environment of the most trusted academic and professional resources.7.Focus your search within at least one general academic data-base such as Academic Search Premier, Proquest Complete, Lexis/Nexis Academic Universe, or CQ Researcher to apply the search terms in a trusted environment and manage the number of results.8.Do a limited search by year and “full text” returns using the same general academic database(s) you used in step 7 to reduce the number of results and identify the most current resources.

“[Y]ou are going to use [Google and] Wikipedia as a source for writing assign-ments regardless of cautions against [them]

In just a single one-hour-long preliminary research session, Susan and Edward were able to utilize the research behaviors they were com-fortable with, were encouraged to continue starting their research in Googlepedia, and learned to remix their behaviors inside the online library.

Edward and Susan: Remix

For Susan, I suggest that she too construct a rebuttal argument and that she use the search string “outsourcing statistics” to explore sources

Based on their Googlepedia research to this point, I suggest to Ed-ward that he construct his essay as a rebuttal argument and that he use the search terms “outsourcing” and “corporate responsibility” to explore sources available to him from the library.

Despite my concerns, and perhaps your own, their Googlepedia-based research process can provide the terms they need to complete the research in more sound and productive ways, and the process can be easily replicated in an online library.

Yes, I am concerned that Susan doesn’t recognize that you can find two or three sources on the Web that agree on just about anything, no matter how crazy that thing might be. Yes, I am concerned that Susan opts out of forming an argument that she truly believes in. Yes, I am concerned that both Susan and Edward trust information so quickly and fail to see a need to question their sources.

Track Your Research/Give Props

building your understanding of writing academic arguments.

There are two concerns with Susan’s research at this point: (1) her rush to research and (2) her rush to judgmen

Improve your research by attempting at least a handful of Web searches using different key terms.

Susan needs to understand why being overly reliant on sources uncovered early on in the research process is a prob-lem

Susan and Edward have done just that for me, and I hope you have learned a little from them, too.

Working through the research process as we have in this chapter, we are moving away from the research process to a combi-nation of our process

Susan Blum notes that “if we want to teach students to comply with academic norms of [research], it may be helpful to contrast their ordi-nary textual practices—rich, varied, intersecting, constant, ephemeral, speedy—with the slower and more careful practices required in the academy” (16)

Unlike Edward, Susan is not concerned with engaging in a debate on the subject of outsourcing, regardless of her opinions on it. Susan views the assignment as I think many students would, another “get it done” research paper. Further, she believes the majority opinion, at least as it is discussed in the initial source she locates, should be heropinion in her essay. Susan explains, “I tend to take the side that I think I can make the stronger argument for . . . If it was a personal issue or an issue I was really interested in, like abortion, I wouldn’t do this. This topic doesn’t affect me though.”

“Currency: The timeliness of the information.”•“Relevance: The importance of the information for your needs.”•“A u t h o r i t y: The source of the information.”•“Accuracy: The reliability, truthfulness, and correctness of the informational content.”•“Purpose: The reason the information exists.” (Meriam Library)

Like Edward, Susan is not (initially) concerned about the credibil-ity of the text (author’s credentials, source, sponsoring/hosting website, URL or domain, etc.); she appears only concerned with the informa-tion itself.

However, analyze them as closely as you would a printed source.

usan’s information behavior shows how attract-ed we all are to visuals

As Susan types in the term “outsourcing,” Google as a search

Susan begins her research where most students do, on Google.

It is not that the library and databases are a hassle or the library is an uncomfortable space, but I can get this research done in bed.”

Know as much as you can about your source and do your best to present his or her credentials in your writ-ing.

Viewed one way, Edward is trying to establish the credibility of his source. However, he doesn’t dig deep enough or perhaps is too easily convinced.

Analysis: Understanding the credentials of the author or source is particularly important in conducting sound academic re-search and especially during the age of the open Web.

Edward, Susan, and Googlepedia

Let your research help focus your thinking.

Edward’s reliance on Wikipedia at this point is still not a concern. He is starting to link out to other resources, just as you should do.

Though he seems to identify a research focus, corporate re-sponsibility, and working thesis

After our brief discussion to flush out his process in conducting

Even though Edward acknowledges that the source of the “Bogeyman” text is the journal Business Week, for example, he admits selecting the text based on the title alone, claiming “I don’t read [Business Week], so I can’t judge the source’s quality.”

Recommendation: Deepen your understanding. Formulate a working thesis. Reread the pages as Edward has done here. This is recursive preliminary research, a process that will strengthen your research and your writing

Analysis

Wikipedia. To use it as a starting point, not a final destination.

Edward

Edward, Susan, and Googlepedia

In the end, their Googlepedia research hurt not only their writing, but also their credibility as journalists.

searching in Wikipedia or Google•power browsing quickly through websites for ideas and quotes•cutting-and-pasting information from the Web into one’s own writing without providing proper attribution for it•viewing information as free, accurate, and trustworthy•treating online information as equal to print information

Fitzgerald posted his fake quote on Wikipedia within hours of the composer’s death, and later found that several newspaper outlets had picked up and published the quote, even though the administrators of Wikipedia recognized and removed the bogus post.

The Wikipedia Hoax

By mirroring what writers do with Googlepedia and building on that process, this essay will significantly improve your research skills

I first acknowl-edge what you already do when conducting research

“We [teachers] need to recognize that our students enter our [college] classrooms with their own experiences as users of informa-tion” (265)

Despite the fact that it would

I believe we all are immersed and comfortable in the information world created by Googlepedia, yet there is much more to research than this.

Howeve

The concept of presearch is an important one for this chapter; Ed-ward’s reliance on Wikipedia and Susan’s reliance on Google are not research crutches, but useful presearch tools

Wikipedia brings ideas together on a single page as well as provides an accompanying narrative or summary that writers are often looking for during their research, particularly in the early stages of it.

The suggestion by Head and Eisenberg that many students go to Google and Wikipedia first, and that many of them go to these websites in order to get a sense of the big picture (11), is confirmed in the advice offered by Purdy when he writes that Wikipedia allows you to “get a sense of the multiple aspects or angles” on a topic (209).

Alison J. Head and Michael Eisenberg from Project Information Literacy report from their interviews with groups of students on six college campuses that “Wikipedia was a unique and indispensible research source for students . . . there was a strong consensus among students that their research process began with [it]”

Still, the

Wikipedia and Google are so much a part of the research process for writers today that to ignore their role and refuse to work with these tools seems ludicrous.

“information is trustworthy and useful because, over time, many, many people have contributed their ideas, thoughts, passions, and the facts they learned both in school and in the world”

reliability

I admit that finding information quickly and effort-lessly is certainly alluring

In short, information literacy is a set of skills you need to understand, find, and use information.

The American Library Association (ALA) and the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL

In doing so, I include comments from Susan and Edward on developing their exist-ing information behaviors into academic research skills, and I offer questions to help you consider your own information behaviors and research skills.

this chapter shows you why that’s not true and why the resources provided by your school library are still much more effective for conducting research

While Susan and Edward find Googlepedia to be “good enough” for conducting research,

Therefore, my goal in this chapter is to suggest a blended research process that begins with the initial tendency to use Google and Wikipedia and ends in the university library

Please understand that I do not plan to dismiss the use of what I call “Googlepedia” in seeking information

I trace in this chapter the early research decisions of two first year composition students, Susan and Edward, one who begins research in Google and another who starts in Wikipedia.