Gibson Wins Reference Service Press Award
		By Jeb Livingood

		A sophomore starts hunting through the Internet for material for his Religion 251 term paper. The first website he finds says archeological discoveries conclusively prove that the first five books of the Bible were written by Moses. A second site argues that Genesis is so full of internal contradictions and variations in style that multiple authors had to be at work. Who is the student to believe? Problems like this are the subject of Craig Gibson's article "Critical Thinking: Implications for Instruction," in the fall 1995 edition of Reference Quarterly (RQ). Gibson is the University Libraries associate director for information services. "We're all so busy and harried these days," he says, "but the quality of our information has an impact on the quality of our thought." The American Library Association agrees-to the tune of $1,000, which is how much they awarded Gibson for his work. Gibson worries about what he calls the "magical effect" of computer resources-the assumption that if it's on the screen, it's valid. Gibson says some people see computers as near "oracles," believing far too much, far too easily. Instead, his article argues for more self-aware users, users who not only question their conclusions, but exactly how they arrived at those conclusions. And he doesn't restrict his more disciplined approach to computer resources, or just students. He says the same principles apply to the wide variety of media that professors, librarians, and other library users often fail to question. "We all need to learn how to make good choices," he says. The funding for Gibson's award comes from Reference Service Press, a publishing firm in California. Annually, through the American Library Association, Reference Service Press presents a $1,000 award for the best article published in RQ during the last two years. Gibson plans to accept the award in person at this summer's American Library Association Conference in San Francisco.