This is a relfection, so I won’t lie; That presentation was one of the most boring things I have ever had to sit through. But in truth, how fun can a presentation on how to use resources from the library be? I think she was very thorough in explaining how to use the library search engine, and keywords and such to weed out the least relevant sources. The one thing that I realy did not get, was when she said you can’t be too specific in your search, nor can you be too generic. How can you be TOO specific? Would that not help you find THE MOST relevant material?
As a journalist being able to do thorough research is key. If you go to interview someone and you haven’t done proper research, you end up looking like an ass, and people think you don’t know what you’re talking about. Credibility is important in journalism, we’ve gone over that a million times in class. People don’t take you seriously, if they don’t think you know what you’re talking about. Doing research also helps you find sources and potentially other people you can contact in order for more information on whatever it is you’re researching in the first place. Researching also helps you with developing questions to ask, because you determine how much more you want to know and how much more you think the people should know. All in all, research is an important part of journalism because without it, the story won’t be told accurately, and as journalists, it is part of our duty to society to tell the story as accurately as we possibly can.
