International Law

I must admit I was really surprised to see that this story - Lecturer bans students from using Google and Wikipedia - made news in the UK (via The Argus) in the first place, and was stunned to see it pick up internationally (see, for example, here).  I was surprised because I would have though almost all academics would prefer it if students used more rigorous academic and intellectual research methodologies than a few internet searches.  That is not to say that Google and Wikipedia can't be a part of research (indeed it is worth noting that both Google and Wikipedia may reveal to a researcher valid and interesting sources that more traditional searches may not), but simply that they should not be the beginning and the end of research.  While there is no doubt that to simply ban Google and Wikipedia is silly, it is equally silly that a sound-bite from one UK lecturer has made news all around the world.