📘 Part 3: Accessing information

This episode's vocabulary

Word of mouth (adj.) given or done by people talking about something or telling people about something.

To match up (phrasal verb) - if two pieces of information match up, they are the same.

Applicable (adj.) - affecting or relating to a person or thing.

Source (noun) - someone or something that supplies information.

Factual (adj.) - using or consisting of facts.

Repository (noun) - a place where things are stored and can be found.

Indispensable (adj.) - something or someone that is indispensable is so good or important that you could not manage without it, him, or her.

Current (noun) - a particular opinion or feeling that a group of people have.

Ebook (noun) - an electronic book which can be read on a small personal computer.

Digital (adj.) - using or relating to computers and the internet.

Algorithm (noun) - a set of mathematical instructions or rules that, especially if given to a computer, will help to calculate an answer to a problem.

Wary (adj.) - not completely trusting or certain about something or someone.

Prevalence (noun) - the fact that something is very common or happens often.

Weariness (noun) - great tiredness.

To regulate (verb) - to control something, especially by making it work in a particular way.

To legislate (verb) - to make rules or laws relating to a particular activity.

To enforce (verb) - to make people obey a law, or to make a particular situation happen or be accepted.

Shift (noun) - a change in position or direction.

Force of habit - if you do something out of force of habit, you do it without thinking because you have done it so many times before.

To reinforce (verb) - to make something stronger.

Awareness (noun) - knowledge that something exists, or understanding of a situation or subject at the present time based on information or experience.

The able-bodied (plural noun) - people who are healthy and have no illness, injury, or condition that makes it difficult to do the things that other people do.

To network (verb) - to meet people who might be useful to know, especially in your job.

-

Questions and Answers

M: Rory, let's talk about information. What are the ways of getting information these days?

R: Well, aside from search engines, I mean, I suppose people still read books like encyclopedias, for example, or other kinds of reference books. And they watch videos and different TV programs like documentaries. And they'll probably go through different articles if needed. Oh, there's also still a huge role played by word of mouth, since not all information is shared online yet, like lots of people find accommodation this way.

M: How can people check whether a piece of information is correct or not?

R: Well, I suppose the first way is by comparing it to reality. But that might not always be so easy. So the next step is using memory or experience and seeing if it matches up then. And neither of those are applicable, then I suppose that's when it's a good idea to check the internet or news, even then that can be hard because multiple sources are needed to check things these days.

M: And what about fake news?

R: Well, that's the problem, isn't it? Even with fact-checkers, and fact-checking websites, it's still an issue. However, if you can find multiple sources covering the same thing, and they roughly match up, then you can check if something is factual.

M: But do you think that many people these days believe the fake news?

R: I don't know how you would begin to measure that. Because you couldn't ask somebody do you believe in something that's not true. Because obviously, the answer would be yes. So it's sort of like, it's difficult to measure.

M: Do you think libraries are still important in the digital age?

R: Oh, absolutely. I mean, a library isn't just a repository of information, but also culture and the artefacts, they're associated with it. They allow people a place to gather for different events and share ideas. So they're pretty much indispensable in my opinion.

M: And who goes to the libraries these days? And why? Because pretty much everything could be found online.

R: That's true. And I think fewer and fewer people, in general, are going right now. But generally, older people who may not be so comfortable with internet access or just people that want to support local libraries. Like there's lots of small communities with libraries that, and they support the fact that their library functions pretty thoroughly, I would have said.

M: Will libraries be replaced by the internet?

R: Oh, it's the common wisdom, and there is a trend of libraries closing, but there's also a counter-current of people becoming more community-minded. So it's possible, they might continue to close, though I think more people will band together to save their libraries in the future.

M: And what do you think about online libraries? Are they popular?

R: I couldn't say, to be honest. I think I can see why they would be. For example, there's a variety of places where you can take our ebooks online, and more people are reading ebooks these days. So it wouldn't surprise me if they were. Similarly, there are websites like Librivox, which is an online library. But that's not where you borrow things, you just download them for free. And that seems to be pretty popular.

M: And what are the differences between an online library and a physical library?

R: Well, aside from one being digital, and the other being like a real place, in a digital library, the closest you get to a librarian is maybe the algorithms that you use to organize and search for information. And then an online library will not have events that are targeted at the local community either. So it's a bit more sterile in that sense, I guess, or the function is purer.

M: Do most people trust information online?

R: Well, they probably used to, but now people seem more wary of what they read. And there's an increased prevalence of fact-checkers, though there's an increasing weariness around them too, as their bias has become clear. So I think they probably trust it, but it's a cautious kind of trust.

M: And do you think that there should be laws on the spread of the fake news?

R: I don't know if that's something that you can regulate or legislate. Because how do you measure whether something's fake or not? I mean, on the surface, it seems like it's, it should be easy, like something is wrong or not. But the other thing is why people have put that information out in the first place. Because some people might have said something is true, and it's not and they didn't mean that maybe they made a mistake, for example. So between working out how true something is and working out why someone put it out there, I don't think it's possible to enforce that kind of legislation.

M: What information can people get from television?

R: Well, just about anything. The most common is through news programs, especially those on national or state networks. And there are also a lot of documentaries on different aspects of life. Although there's a definite shift towards streaming online and getting your information from online sources.

M: Why do you think that still many people watch television so they rely on television to get the news from?

R: Well, there's a few reasons for that. I mean, first of all, it's force of habit. So like when you get into this habit of watching television, that's difficult to break it and move into looking at things online unless you really have to. Well, and if you're older too, that sort of reinforces this habit, because it's difficult to learn how to use technology to in the same way to use your television, for example.

M: Does the development of the Internet have any impact on disabled people?

R: Well, it definitely increases their access to information. And I suppose it could help raise awareness among more able-bodied people of the struggles they face. I imagine it also presents greater opportunities for disabled people to interact and network since they don't, well, need to travel. And sometimes travel and transportation can be difficult if you have a disability.

M: Thank you, Rory, for your answers!

R: No problem, hopefully, they were quite accessible.

-

Discussion

M: So information, we access information, so we kind of get this information, or can I use it as a noun? So we get an access to information?

R: No, you could just say you get access to information or you have information access.

M: Hmm. Yep. Or you can access information easily online, for example. So how do we get information these days? We just Google it. We just use Google. So search engines, people, yeah? Search engines, Google, Yahoo, Bing, but the most common one, I think all over the world is now Google is the top monster. And Rory, you said that people usually go through different articles online, for example, go through. Yeah?

R: Yeah. So if you go through something, it could mean that you read it, or it's like you're reading one thing after the other.

M: We go through different articles, we go through different videos online, on the internet, or using our apps. On smartphones. We go through different posts on social media. But there is also still a huge role played by word of mouth. Word of mouth.

R: Yes. But word of mouth is just talking to people and hearing information or getting information that way, as opposed to just looking something up online. Because like I said, not everything is shared on the internet, really, people usually share information in their own personal social networks.

M: Yeah, so we can say people usually look information up online. So look it up online, or they just talk to each other. Right? So it's word of mouth. So for example, our podcast, we don't have advertising, right? So people just share our podcasts with each other. So we are kind of becoming more and more popular by word of mouth. Yeah? Is it true. Rory, what do you think?

R: Um, word of mouth is still pretty important. Like I found my apartment just by knowing people and talking to them. I didn't look it up online. And if I had, I would have paid a heck of a lot more actually.

M: So you found your apartment by word of mouth?

R: Yeah. I mean, a lot of people do that. Or at least I would imagine most people do that because we're definitely talking more than we're online, usually. You don't sound convinced about that. Are you online a lot more?

M: No, I think a word of mouth is great. Especially like teachers, for example. For teachers, it's important. Teachers who don't, I don't know, advertise themselves, who don't have their own blogs with millions of followers and subscribers. So they are just becoming popular by word of mouth. Students just share them. Doctors the same, like professionals like I don't know, hair stylists, doctors, and doctors and lawyers, you know. Yeah, it's just big, it's big. Fake news. You can talk about fake news. And fake news, according to Wikipedia is false or misleading information presented as news. So if, for example, kind of we read on I don't know, the Financial Times that Rory Fergus Duncan Goodwillie...

R: Oh, my God. It's the first time you've gotten my name right!

M: Yeah, I'm reading it from a script. No, no, I'm joking. So Rory Fergus... Yeah, I can't do it the second time.

R: Oh, for heaven's sake.

M: So Rory Duncan now lives in Moscow. And this is going to be in the newspapers. So this is kind of fake because Rory lives in Scotland now. He used to live in Moscow. But now he is in Scotland for some reason. We're still waiting for him in Moscow. So you see, this is going to be fake news, right? Misleading information. It's false. Rory is in Scotland. He's not in Moscow. And I have this news that he's in Moscow. So fake news often had the aim of damaging the reputation of a person, you see. So it's pretty much you know, we have the definition, making money through advertising something, right? So it's pretty much fake news has a negative connotation. So it's negative. Right. And we can check multiple sources, multiple sources, like different sources, and then you use this if it matches up to see if the information matches up.

R: Yeah, so that just means if it's got shared features.

M: So if you check it up in multiple sources, and you see the same thing, then perhaps this is true, right? But if different sources have different information, then it could be fake news.

R: Or if it doesn't match up.

M: If it doesn't match up. Yeah, that's nice phrasal verb. So if the news doesn't match up, it's fake. Could be fake. And mind you, news is. Okay, dear listener? It's crazy. News, I know, I know, but it's an s. News are. No, no, no. News is good. No news is good news. And do you say news or news? News is good.

R: Well, it depends. If we're talking about the news, then it's usually talking about TV programs or specific kind of news. So it could be like, have you heard the news? But in general, it's just news.

M: Libraries. Hey, dear listener, have you ever been to a library? Have you been to a library recently? When was the last time you went to a library? Hey! So the digital age and libraries and here Rory said a library isn't just a repository, repository.

R: Repository.

M: Rep, rep, rep, repository. A repository of information. Wow, what is this?

R: A repository is just a place where you keep things safe or store things safely.

M: A library is a repository of information, a repository of wisdom. Yeah? So you can say like a library is super important in our culture still, because it's not just a repository of information, but also a repository of culture, artefacts. Artefacts, do you mean like old books?

R: It could be that. Although it's funny, because my local library has something called reminiscence boxes, where they have things from the past, they're used with people with dementia, for example, to help them retain as much of their memories as they can. And so they keep them in libraries and that's helpful for them. But I've used them for teaching small children.

M: Nice. Wow. We can also talk about local libraries, right? Like state libraries, and local libraries, which are indispensable, in my opinion. Indispensable, they cannot be replaced. Yeah?

R: Yeah.

M: Rory is an indispensable person on this podcast. So we can't just replace Rory with some Bob.

R: No matter how much you might want to.

M: Yes. Fewer people are going to libraries these days you can say. Mind you, fewer people, okay? Like not many people are going to libraries, because we're talking about today, these days. Yeah? In the digital age, fewer people are going. And more people are starting using online libraries. Ebooks. So some people prefer to read ebooks. They borrow books from offline libraries. So we borrow books. Can you borrow ebooks?

R: You can apparently. I don't know how that works.

M: Really?

R: Even though I have an app on my phone. It's designed to do that, I haven't actually checked it out. Mostly because I didn't find anything worth reading. But yes, you can.

M: You can say there is a trend of libraries closing. There's a trend of libraries, which are closing down, yeah? Maybe. In your country, right? So think about your country. And people who work in libraries are called librarians. Right? So offline libraries, online libraries, online we have algorithms, not librarians.

R: At least I think so. I don't know if there are online libraries with a physical or a real librarian.

M: I think there's just like IT tech support.

R: That seems logical, doesn't it? But there will be someone that had to organize this and maybe a librarian helped with that.

M: People seem more wary of what they read. Wary.

R: It's like the concept of being aware of potential problems. And it's always wary of something.

M: And you also said, there's an increased prevalence of fact-checkers. What are fact checkers?

R: There are people who check facts? Although that's a bit silly. There are people who look for fake news or really weird claims that people make.

M: So they are like real people. They're not programs? Fact-checkers.

R: Usually. I wonder if there are some algorithms that help them. But usually they are people. At least in my experience.

M: Speaking about television, so many people still watch television. And the most common piece of information that people get from television seems to be the news programs, national state networks, right? Local news. You also said there are a lot of documentaries on different aspects. And streaming online. Streaming online, you meant like Netflix, for example. Yeah? The N-word.

R: It can be that, but there's other platforms that you can stream things from.

M: So you pay and then you kind of get this platform and you watch films, news, different documentaries. Yeah?

R: Sometimes you pay.

M: Yeah, it's also called like television, right? And some people still watch television, because it's force of habit. So they are just used to it, right? And instead of watching YouTube, or something else, they watch television. And how do we say it? They watch television, because it's force of habit or due to force of habit?

R: Yeah. Because of or due to, but I mean, it's just what they do. It's how they interact with information. And they don't see another way around it.

M: And then an interesting question about the development of the Internet and disabled people. So disabled people or physically disadvantaged people, the internet increases their access to information, right?

R: Yeah.

M: And the internet raises awareness among, like, able-bodied people. Right? So and people with the help of the internet see that about certain things from the life of disabled people?

R: Yeah.

M: Yeah. Kind of a difficult question. No?

R: Any topic like this can always be answered with talking about two kinds of things, raising awareness, because anything to do with information is, well, it raises your awareness, and then representation, because if you increase the number of ways that people can show themselves online and interact with each other, then their representation is going to be increased. It doesn't have to be a huge one, it can be a minor one, but it's still there.

M: Cool. And also, the internet presents greater opportunities for disabled people, yeah? Greater opportunities for physically challenged people to interact, to network with other people, right? So they're pretty much equal to other people online, right? So it's kind of maybe equality and create opportunities for everybody.

R: Yeah.

M: Regardless of their abilities, there you go. You see.

R: So you could also talk about equality of access as well.

M: Equality of access. Yeah. So, please make sure you are politically correct and use correct synonyms, less abled people, disabled people physically challenged people. Sweet. Okay. Thank you very much for listening! We wish you happiness, joy and love. Sending love. Thank you very much again! And we'll get back to you in our next episode. Bye!

R: Bye!

M: Bye-bye-bye!

-

Make sure to subscribe to our social media to see some of the “behind the scenes” stuff:

Our Instagram: bit.ly/instagramswi

Our Telegram: bit.ly/telegramswi