Information Research Weblog

Today's Guardian newspaper has a very interesting article by George Monbiot, a regular contributor, which is, in effect, about the quality (and suspect quality) of information available on the Internet. It also carries a warning to the effect that not everyone with a science degree is necessarily a 'scientist' in the true sense of the word.

The story concerns a claim by Dr. David Bellamy, a former university teacher and television presenter, that the world's glaciers are increasing rather than shrinking. Read the article and you will forever distrust anything that you cannot track down to a really authoritative source!

It's a great shame, really, that Bellamy has allowed himself to be misled in this way. He did a great deal of good for biology through his TV programmes, enthusing many for the discipline, and he is a noted environmentalist. Evidently, however, he has not fully understood that anyone can put anything on a Website.

This is not the first time that Monbiot has had a brush with Bellamy - there's more on his Website.