How do we find information nowadays? Essay 1

By: iliana carballo       

          

It's amazing how words spread throughout people. In school, neighborhood and obviously also worldwide! Nowadays we got TVs’ to show us and update us on the latest news and trends. We got computers that have basically everything you need to know or want to know. People can easily get on the computer to look up whatever they're curious about and choose from thousands of results for cites to pick to find the answers you’re looking for. There are also magazines that are conveniently sold in popular areas like super markets, pharmacies, streets and so on.

It’s very convenient for those people on the run or in a rush and can easily pick up a magazine or newspaper and find out what’s currently going on in the world, with the celebrities, politics, and even the economy plus so much more. There are also stories that are mainly found in magazines that always seem to include real people with their stories. Stories of real events, real tragedies and even miracles. We also got like home radios and car radios that keep us up to date with the traffic, weather, and news and so on while we commute to our destination. Like I said before, very convenient.

When I was younger, my sister and I grew up with TVs’ and radios basically. When we were kids though, we weren’t necessarily interested in the news. We would basically only use the radio to listen to music, used the TV to watch movies and shows and that was it! Although my mom every now and then would talk to our neighbors or family members about certain things, like about things she saw on the news on night or things she found out about our neighborhood and so on. Basically every now and then I’d pretty much find out about something. The area I lived in those years was full o f people who loved gossip. So it was inevitable that I wouldn’t find at least something out back then.

            As I went on to my middle school years and made more friends, thanks to them I was never left behind on what was trending I guess you could say. They always got me updated on what new music was out and the time, or where the best spots to shop at were or which mall. If it wasn’t more them I bet I’d probably would have stayed listening to the only radio stations I knew before them, which were the stations my mom would listen to. Oldies!

I remember in middle school, even my teachers seem to keep their students updated. They always discussed what was going on in the world or around the area. They made some of what we would discuss into topic questions or just simply into a casual group conversation within the class. Also in school, like high school, I remember some teacher I had would show us or look up videos on the internet to show us the whole class. These videos basically were about news going on in the world and stuff. Popular or hot topics America were going through and so on. Honestly if I t wasn’t for my teachers in school, I probably would have never knew as much as I did after everything we talked about in class those days. I seriously didn’t know about a lot of the stuff we discussed. In some of those discussion I would find myself saying “Really?” or “when did this happen?” I seriously questioned it! These videos and group discussion were very helpful and it affected me in a good way. Family, friends, acquaintances, teachers and even technologies have passed information to me or us I mean. Honestly I see technology as the big contributor over her.

There are so many places you could find information at. Or should I say sources. Like if you were to look for an article, they are mostly viewed and found in newspapers. All typed of newspapers. Articles can range to being short, all the way to being a whole page or so. Usually articles state hard facts but honestly it depends where your looking or where you found this article. When I see it in a Times Magazine, for example, or newspaper I believe article found there are more reliable and less fictional. Most articles include interviews with people, so those are real people’s opinions! If this article was to be found on a unreliable cite on the internet or something then it wouldn’t be the best place to look. I believe that the reliable articles are mainly those that are published.

Web pages are good too, for reading information on certain topics and etc. you could find almost everything about anything! Then again, that has its cons. There are many places or cites found on there that were typed up or made by regular people or I mean unreliable sources. Not saying that there are mainly unreliable sources though, you can still find what you are looking for if you’re searching the right way. Like cites ending with .edu or .gov are the most reliable! Not all are going to end with either of those but those are the best sites to look or watch out for.

To be honest though, if I was to work on any topic I wanted, the first place I’d look for or go to would be my computer, for the internet. It’s the most convenient and always there, easy access. This also seems the most effective because of its availability. The sources I picked, both were intended for the people. Basically it wasn’t intended for a specific crowd or anything it was just for anyone interested to see and read for themselves. Reading into both sources so far, I already see a big difference between them!

The web page source I chose wasn’t as sufficient as I thought it would be. The New York Times article here: (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/10/nyregion/after-birth-by-beyonce-patients-protest-celebrity-security-at-lenox-hill-hospital.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=blue%20ivy%20carter&st=cse) I found on Beyonce and rapper Jay-Z’s new born baby girl Blue Ivy Carter was much more interesting and descriptive to read. There were real people opinions in it and actual details of the situations that went on at the hospital that they had shared with The New York Times. So those interviews with the people that were there definitely contributed in making the article interesting and more appealing to the readers compared to the web page source. On the web page I found from E! here (http://www.eonline.com/news/happy_bday_beyonceacute_jay-z_welcome/284730?cmpid=sn-000000-twitterfeed-365-top_stories&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=twitterfeed_celebrities_top_stories&dlvrit=79438), for the same topic, was much shorter than the article and didn’t include the people and patients that were in the hospital along with the carter family.

  As I come to my conclusion I realize that if I really wanted to find info on something I am working on, the sources that are actually published should be one of the first sources I should go to. One reason I say that Is cause E! Is usually known for putting out all the business and news about the celebrities. Or so I thought which made me believe that they would have enough in for on the birth of Blue Ivy Carter. One thing from the web page that I read was,  “Hey, were lucky to find this much, considering Blue’s parents didn’t even confirm….” And just by reading that I realized that proved that they didn’t really know much about the topic. Unlike the article on The New York times that I saw they had on there was “We really believe the hospital is culpable in this because they didn’t let us know what was happening….”, Which proves that they interviewed real people that were actually there. Whish supports what I had said earlier about articles containing quotes and opinions which make them more reliable.

I would definitely begin a research I’d be working on with facts or descriptive texts. I would go with articles for a greater quality in information. Reading those two sources completely changed my mind about starting a research paper looking up cites on the internet. I see now that best info can be found in articles and published texts.