What is satisficing?How is satisficing identified?How can the Writing Center help?What can you do about it?If all else fails…The Digital Research Processand “Satisficing”

Jennifer Colby Writing 300 Fall 2012

The process of considering options until “a practical solution with an adequate level of acceptability is found, and stopping the search there instead of looking for the best-possible solution”.1

In the digital research process this manifests as

o Merely meeting the basic requirements of an assignment o Information overload2

1The Economist (2009, March 20) Guru: Herbert Simon. Retrieved November 20, 2012, from http://www.economist.com/node/13350892 .2Head, A. J., & Eisenberg, M. B. (2009). Finding Context: What Today's Students Say about Conducting Research in the Digital Age. University of Washington, The Information School.

What is satisficing?

Even if the tutor does not have specific topic knowledge, obvious signs of satisficing include3

o Glaring factual errorso No quotations and/or a failure to cite sourceso Limited or no bibliographyo The inability of the student to verbally defend

information in paper or identify where it came from

3Sweetland Center for Writing. Warning Signs of a Rushed Paper. From http://writing2.richmond.edu/wrting/wweb/rushed.html.

How is satisficing identified?

o Put the Writing Center in the Library

Advantages for the writing center are…• Sharing space and resources• Cross-training of tutors and librarians• Providing joint services to students

Advantages for the student are…• Direct and convenient research help in conjunction with pre-writing

services

o Eastern Michigan University Academic Projects Center5 

4Smith, M., & Hepworth, M. (2007). An investigation of factors that may demotivate secondary school students undertaking project work: Implications for learning information literacy. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science , 39 (1), 3-15.5Eastern Michigan University. Academic Projects Center. Retrieved December 1, 2012 from http://www.emich.edu/apc/.

How can the Writing Center help?4

1. Show genuine interest in the student’s topic2. Ask questions

o How did you find these sources?o Why did you choose these sources?o Do you need help finding sources?

3. Encourage the student to "Ask A Librarian"o Instant messagingo Emailo Phoneo In persono Subject Specialists

4. Make them be aware of MLibrary resourceso Research Guideso Searchpatho Library Tutorials

5. Encourage the student to visit the Writing Center earlier in their process of writing

What can you do about it?

If all else fails…

10. You must never fully rely on any one source for important information. 9. You especially cannot rely on something when you do not even know who wrote it.8. The contributor with an agenda often prevails.7. Individuals with agendas sometimes have significant editing authority.6. Sometimes “vandals” create malicious entries that go uncorrected for months.5. There is little diversity among editors.4. The number of active Wikipedia editors has flat lined.3. It has become harder for casual participants to contribute.2. Accurate contributors can be silenced.  

And finally, the number one reason you can't cite or rely on Wikipedia:1. It says so on Wikipedia.6

6Moran, M. E. (2011, October 27). The Top 10 Reasons Students Cannot Cite or Rely On Wikipedia. FindingDulcinea. Retrieved November 26, 2012, from http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/education/2010/march/The-Top-10-Reasons-Students-Cannot-Cite-or-Rely-on-Wikipedia.html

The Top 10 Reasons Students Cannot Cite or Rely On Wikipedia

1. Evaluate the Intention of the websiteo WHY was the website created?o What OPINION does this site represent?

2. Evaluate the Relevance of the Siteo How OLD is the website or page?o Does timeliness matter to the subject of your paper or

project?

3. Evaluate the Reliability of the Siteo WHO created the site?o How GOOD is the Information?o How well documented is the work?7

7University of Michigan Library. (2012, August 29). Searchpath: Using the Web. Research Guides. Retrieved November 29, 2012 from http://guides.lib.umich.edu/content.php?pid=43469&sid=320775

Questions to Consider When Evaluating the Content of a Web Site6

o Without positive intervention and constructive help from human sources student information seeking characterized by:• Confusion • Vagueness • Embarrassment

Resulting in satisficing and writing that is unsupported by academic sources.8

8Dossin, M. M. (2005). Using Others' Words. In B. Raforth (Ed.), A Tutor's Guide: Helping Writers One to One (2nd Edition ed., pp. 159-165). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Why is the tutor so important?

Davidson, Jason (2012, August 4). Words and Coffee. Retrieved December 3, 2012 from http://mrjasondavidson.blogspot.com/