Republic of the Philippines

Southern Philippines Agri-business and Marine

and Aquatic School of Technology
Malita, Davao del Sur

ONLINE SOURCES AS A SUBSTITUTE OF BOOK

REFERENCES FOR EDUCATION STUDENTS

CHONA A. UY
TRIALHYN T. YANO
RUBIE JANE C. PETCHON
 INTRODUCTION

Nowadays student have many ways to access different information. Since the World
Wide Web connected humanity, an overwhelming number advantages of the internet have
surfaced. Content published on the internet is immediately available to a global audience of
users. This make it a very cost-effective medium to publish information. An online sources is
such a big help for students in research and reference. Though students have been used to
go to libraries or book stores to buy and scan different book references to get the
information they needed, in today’s technology, we have quick access in browsing different
sites in getting information of anything that we want to know.

Today, the Internet is one of the most powerful tools throughout the world. The net
is easy and fast source of information. We can find lot of materials and stay more
intelligent. Sometimes we need additional information for better marks in school. The
internet has many advantages over the library or a set of encyclopedias. You can have a
whole world of information right at your fingertips. Many sources are available on here and
you stay right at your desk instead of looking for lots of books and flipping through them to
do your research.

This study about online sources as a substitute of book references for students
discusses the issues and problems associated with these different ways of gathering
information. Throughout this study, it is intended to provide and evaluate how reliable
online sources in giving information, and analyze whether the internet is competent in
replacing book references.
 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

In this days, almost everyone in the world have had a contact with computers. A
great part of them has been using international computer’s net known as Internet. The
Internet provides many facilities to the people especially in giving information. While on the
other hand, reference books is the major and first tool for students in order to get data and
information.

Online sources can provide the very latest information while library books take time
to order, accession and be available on the shelves. A lot of information of different types is
stored on the web server on the Internet. It means that billions websites contain different
information in the form of text and pictures. You can easily collect information on every
topic of the world. For this purpose, special websites, called search engines are available on
the Internet to search information of every topic of the world. The scientists, writers,
engineers and many other people especially students use these search engines to collect
latest information for different purposes. Usually, the information on the Internet is free of
cost. The information on the Internet is available 24 hours a day.

Since the new generation of students nowadays are capable of using internet, most
of them are relying on browsing or searching online to gather information. Thus, it makes
that books have been replaced with the internet in gathering information needed by the
user. It is also advantage to researcher who have internet access at home because they
don’t have to leave their homes just to get the information they needed. It was a big help in
terms of time management to those who have busy schedules especially students that have
a deadline to meet for submitting their projects or requirements at school.

However, online resources may not be as accurate as the book itself. A lot of
information about a particular topic is stored on the websites. Some information may be
incorrect or not authentic. So, it becomes difficult to select the correct information.
Sometimes you may be confused. If you use the internet you do have a greater chance of
finding false information, however, if you go to a library and scan reference books your
resources are limited to whatever books or magazine articles that library might contain. The
net is faster, of course, and you have a lot of resources, as there are billions of websites out
there versus whatever books a specific library you visit will only have on hand.
 However, this may also be a downside, because some online resources you can’t
really trust. The Information and facts in some links may be incorrect, or just plain false.
You may still need to hit the books to verify their validity.

Undeniably, internet is such a big source of different information. Imagining the

number of user who are online everyday and browsing different sites on the internet to
gather information for different purposes. The books may have a specific information but
cannot provide the latest information that internet have at the same time.
 DESCRIPTION OF THE OBTAINED DATA

A survey questionnaire was designed to collect data that would help us obtain a
better understanding of the students about the internet resources as substitute for book
references.

The questionnaire was compost of 5 questions to be answered by the respondents.

We have randomly selected 10 students to answer the questionnaire.

TABLE 1.0 Questionnaire

QUESTIONNAIRE

No
Questions YES NO
.
1. Do you used internet access for references?

2. Do you go to library and used book references?

3. Are you satisfied every time you get information from the internet?

4. Does internet browsing is faster than scanning book references in

gathering information?

5. If you were to choose, what would you prefer for gathering

information, online sources or book references?
Results

TABLE 2.0 Summary of results gathered

YES NO
Frequency Perce Frequen Perce
nt cy nt
Do you used internet access for references? 10 100% 0 0

Do you go to library and used book references? 8 80% 2 20%

Are you satisfied every time you get information from 3 30% 7 70%
the internet?

Does internet browsing is faster than scanning book 10 100% 0 0

references in gathering information?

If you were to choose, what would you prefer for 10 of the 100%
gathering information, online sources or book Respondents
references? chooses book
references

Table 2.0 shows the result of the questions answered by the students. Out of 10
respondents, 100% were using internet for reference. 8 out of 10 or 80% of the
respondents answered they go to library and used book references, 20% of them were not.
In terms of satisfaction on the information from the internet, 70% of the respondents were
unsatisfied and only 30% are satisfied about the internet information they have. While
100% of the respondents all agreed that using internet if faster than flipping books to get
information they needed. On the final question, 100% of the respondents chooses book
references over online sources of information.
 CONCLUDING PARAGRAPH

Based on the data we have gathered, online resources is not capable in replacing
book references in term of giving information to the students. The Internet may be an
incredibly powerful research aid but it doesn’t have the accuracy and be reliable source of
information due to the fact that anyone can publish a web page – no – one checks that the
information is correct, current or able to be authenticated. While the book references have
all been individually selected by a trained professional, to cater specifically to the school's
educational programs. The Internet tends to have a lot of false information on it, or
information that's slanted or biased and you can't always get a reference. You're more likely
to find well-researched knowledge by reading books. Information on the internet is often
inaccurate, as it's all user based. The internet tends to operate on a 'majority rules' basis,
so if the majority of people are saying something is correct, then that's way the internet will
portray it. This fails to account for the fact that the majority of people aren't using original
research or firsthand experience, just regurgitating what they heard from someone else.
Suggestions

It really doesn’t matter where your data or information came from as long as you’re
sure that it is correct and accurate. But if you wish to have reliable information right away,
must first used reference book but if you want get more recent ideas, you may browse the
internet and have some online resources. You can always used both sources for gathering
information but you must obtain definite information.

Even if you used book references, make sure it is protected by a copyright law so
that you are ensure that it contains useful and correct information. Always check the data’s
and information you have if it came from a reliable source and authenticated.
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