FACT: The best place to start research is in the library, where you will have the help of a librarian and access to all the print and electronic resources available to you as a student. If you are doing research at home alone online, your library's home page will provide you with links to scholarly databases. These databases are usually paid subscriber services for use by the campus community.
Fable 2: Things I write in my e-mail and chat rooms are private.
FACT: Whoever owns or runs the e-mail service you use can access your conversations. In a work environment, it may be your employer. Companies are penalizing employees who are using their computers for non-work related purposes, which means they are monitoring what employees write and what addresses employees access online. Yahoo has started to censor correspondence in its chat rooms, if a message violates its service contract (which means some stranger is reading what users say to determine whether it's illegal.) The government is in the process of attempting to require software companies to build wire-tapping capabilities into their telecommunication systems. Think twice about what you write online anywhere.
Fable 3: Virtual libraries will replace libraries as we know them.
FACT: All existing books, periodicals, videos, audio materials and librarians are not yet online. The majority of the world's population does not have the equipment at home to access the Internet. Are libraries changing? Yes, most of them now have added electronic and virtual components to their existing collections.
Fable 4: Books, magazines, and newspapers will be made obsolete by the Internet.
FACT: Only a small percentage of these sources are available online full-text. Most newspapers and magazines which are full-text have not at this time converted all their archival records to full-text, which means you cannot research their older issues online. Who wants to read a good novel on a screen while lounging on the beach? Page-turners are here to stay. The news, on the other hand, is a great thing to read online. You can set up your computer to find only the type of news which interests you, like politics, stocks or sports and never even look at all the murder, mayhem and gossip. While online versions are replacing newspapers for many people, we still need to consider that most of the world's population don't have this option. Also, newspapers are much easier to read on subways, buses, trains, and park benches.
Fable 5: All schools and public libraries have filters on their computers to screen out undesirable material.
FACT: Although many schools and some public libraries do use filters, most do not. The American Library Association is, in fact, opposed to restricting access, since it violates constitutional rights related to free speech. Moreover, filtering software is not perfect. Students doing research on such topics as breast cancer, abortion, and child labor are sometimes confronted with an "access denied" message from the filtering screen.