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Tapping the virtual source
MOST STUDENTS head to the Internet when they need information — whether they're writing a 5000-word dissertation on the Women's Bill or compiling a three-minute presentation on afforestation. While the Net is a great place to find all kinds of facts, one doesn't really know how accurate they are. "The facts might be right, but they might not be the latest," said Phyllis Holman Weisbard, Women's Studies Librarian at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who was in the city to talk about "Creating Web-based Library Resources in Women's Studies". At the American Information Resource Centre Auditorium, she discussed women's studies in the U.S., evaluation of websites and using web-based inputs for women's studies.
She explained the need for evaluating a website before using the information on it for any purpose. She referred to the example of a Google search (a popular search engine on the Internet) the library had done on the conditions of women working in export business houses along the US-Mexican border. They found that the first result from the search engine was actually a term paper written by a high school student. While the facts in the paper were right, the student was not exactly an authority on the subject. "So always check the authority behind the site. Check if you can trust the information on the site." However, someone doing research on the subject could use the bibliography that the student had put up as a reference point.
"Students often take the information they get off the Web at face value," she said. They have to question why the site has been put up — to educate, entertain, convert someone to a particular line of thought or to sell something. Since all information is not always accurate, it's important to verify before using it. And some of the ways of doing this would be to go to a library to re-check the facts, visiting more sites to confirm the information or finding the original documents the site refers to. "Try to contact the agency or government office that the site refers to verify the facts. When you go to another source, either on the Net or in the library, the likelihood of accuracy goes up," she concluded.
Dr. Shanti, co-ordinator of the Centre for Women's Studies and professor of econometrics at the University of Madras talked about the materials available in India for women's studies and the means of improving access to resources on women's studies. India has 26 Women's Studies Centres across the country; the first one was set up in 1974 at SNDT University with a University Grants Commission (UGC) grant. Despite increasing interest in the subject, lack of funds made it difficult to develop focussed courses, publish journals and reports and spread information, she said. "The Madras University Women's Studies Centre does not have a UGC grant but has the support of the Centre and runs with the help of sponsors and the effort and enthusiasm of the faculty," she explained.
The Women's Studies Centres aimed to promote teaching and research, develop curriculum and provide extension services for women's studies, she explained. Regular discussions and seminars were held to identify and remove gender-biased theories from college syllabi. Various sources such as handbooks, directories, editorials, articles, policy papers, government publications and journals that dealt with women's issues also had to be collected and documented for research purposes to promote women's studies in India, she said.
SHALINI UMACHANDRAN
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