Session 5

For this session, the comparison I wished to look at was how social Q & A websites and libraries and schools complement one another in a person's ultimate search for an answer.  While it could be said that these two resources compete with each other to monopolize a person's attention, the fact is that, if one looks at the bigger picture, the information gained from the formal structure of schools and libraries and from the informal nature of Q & A websites can supplement each other's weaknesses in order to form a cohesive suite of information.

One of the biggest differences between the information that schools and libraries provide in contrast to Q & A websites (hereafter referred to as 'these sources') is the context in which information is presented.  Information gleaned from schools and libraries are typically organized by a general overall topic.  For example, if a person wishes to learn about rocks or oceans, he or she could easily find detailed information about them in a book or another printed material.  However, if that person wishes to learn about a specific question that is related but may be slightly out of context, such as, "how do people float in water?," he or she will be hard-pressed to figure out where in your book about oceans you can find this information, if it can even be found in the book at all.  In contrast, going to an online Q & A website, such as Yahoo! Answers, and  typing the exact question in produces several hits:

 

Clicking on any of these hits brings you to a link that answers the asked question.  If the question is nowhere to be found, you can ask it yourself, and, in time, receive an answer to it.  These Q & A websites help a person to find specific information quickly.

However, there is one problem with relying on Q & A websites as a trusted source of information: Sometimes, the information provided isn't correct at all, and with the amount of proposed answers a question can get, it results in information overload as the asker does not know who is right.  Take the same question about floating in water:

Here, the "best answer" is clearly incorrect to an informed reader.  Yet, because people marked it as a "best answer," any reader of this question may be inclined to believe it is correct.  In other cases, such is in the example Leibenluft mentions, the chosen answer may be completely absurd, yet because it was chosen as a "best answer," it may cause some people to believe it to be true.  For these types of situations, information from schools and libraries is an excellent way to analyze the validity of information found on the Q & A website.  Information found in a school or library can generally be considered trustworthy, as the information provided by them is peer reviewed (in most cases).  As the information from the Q & A session provides the asker context in which to research and double-check the answer they received, it narrows down the locations in which the asker needs to search.  Assuming that the Q & A answer was correct, the person can continue to work from there if he or she wished to learn more about the subject.  Schools andlibraries help to provide validity to the information found online.

Another aspect for which these sources varies is on the issue of accountability.  In person, everything you say and do will be associated with you.  As Dr. Gazan found, people may be hesitant to divulge information if divulging it has a possibility of being detrimental to their life.  In his example, an employee who critiques current policy in such a manner that is disliked by a corporate official may soon find him or herself out of a job.  In a similar manner, a person who mistakenly provides wrong information or expresses an unpopular opinion may be subject to ridicule from his or her peers.  This drastically dilutes the diversity of the information provided and the enthusiasm for which the person who is providing it has if he or she is not completely confident in his or her knowledge.  Through means of anonymity, people are free to express their own opinions without the fear of repercussions in everyday life.  Q & A websites can do this through pseudonyms, but schools and libraries are much more restricted in their way of providing anonymity.  While anonymity can be provided through anonymous queries through written work, if a person wishes to ask a question or provide an answer, he or she will immediately be held accountable for what he or she said.

However, one benefit of interacting in a face-to-face situation is the ability to be able to personally relate to the people you are interacting with and receive immediate feedback.  In person, any question asked will be answered almost immediately and is guaranteed to receive an answer (although whether or not the answer is relevant is another story).  Online, a question can sit for days before receiving an answer, if it receives an answer at all.

In addition, when you receive answers from people in person, you can relate to the context in which they present the information, while online, they need to spell it out for you.  In some cases, the backstory takes longer to read and interpret than the information itself does, if the answerer is even willing to write it.

Both Q & A websites and schools and libraries approach situations in different ways, and have different strengths and weaknesses.  Through these strengths and weaknesses, each source can cover for the other's deficiencies and form a more cohesive experience.