Thursday 19 January 2012

I managed quite

happily without Wikipedia yesterday. I manage quite happily without Wikipedia almost every day. Oh it is occasionally useful but there are other ways of getting most of the information I require.
The Whirlwind bounced in early yesterday evening and asked if I had a book on Russian because she was doing her summer project from school -this part has something to do with a Russian fairy tale and she wanted to draw the Russian alphabet around the page. I provided her with a book of alphabets instead of a book about Russian. It would be easier for her to glean the necessary information and I thought the rest of the book would interest her.
"Cool! Do you need it?"
"No. You can borrow it."
"I knew you would have something useful."
"You can find some words in Russian too if you want to."
"Do you know any?"
"I can say 'hello' and 'no'."
The Whirlwind is not impressed by my limited Russian. (Neither am I.)
"Do you suppose we could find something that is supposed to be Russian to cook? I can put it in my project as well."
"You find something and I will think about it," I tell her.
"Have you got a recipe book...?"
"No, not for Russian cooking. You can look it up."
"But I've had my internet time..."
"So? You can always...
"Use the library."
She makes a face and leaves. I know what she will look for in the library today. It would be easy to let her just type in the search terms and let the computer do the rest. There would be more information than she needs there. It might not all be accurate. This way she is much more likely to remember what she reads and, hopefully, it will be more accurate.

6 comments:

Nicole said...

...does Russian fudge count ;p Mmmmm

Old Kitty said...

Amen to libraries! I tend to use wikepedia to see lists, like lists of films pre 1939 made by Universal Studios - things like that, never for proper research. Take care
x

Frances said...

As I understand it, Cat, for example if you post something here that is copyright, blogspot is liable for your crime. It cannot monitor all blogs, therefore it will shut them all down.
The Guardian suggests that the real aim is to make the internet a place where all content is produced only by professionals, and it is consumption only for the rest of us.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/jan/18/sopa-pipa-consumption-only-internet

catdownunder said...

Russian fudge Nicole? I do have a recipe for something called Russian toffee I think - might be the same thing?
Yes, you have to love libraries and real books that you can actually feel...I am soooo old!
Frances - the copyright issue is a difficult one! I suspect the limits still have to be tested in a court of law. I do know what I write here is mine but people can use portions of it under the provisions of the Copyright Act. Trying to prevent the us of the internet though would be like trying to shut the stable door after the horses have bolted.

Frances said...

I hope that you are correct, Cat...but, international commentary suggests that you are not...(guardian, New York Times,L.A. Times etc). We are dependant on the sites that host us, and shutting them down has been said to be the implication. They will be facilitators of copyright violation, therefore liable, therefore they cannot take that risk.
4.5 million people have signed the google petition, and other sites such as wordpress have online petitions.

Miriam Drori said...

Borscht? That's delicious.