Is the internet killing proper research?
Time was, preparing a novel meant months in libaries; websites now offer instant insights. How profound they are is another matter. As a child I dreamed of a giant machine that could store every personal memory and event that had ever taken place, so that I would never forget anything. I knew it couldn't be a computer because that was the screeching wailing box in my dad's study that took 15 minutes to load up the thrillingly-titled "tennis game". I was thinking more of a database in which all information could be stored and shared. Yes, at the age of four - circa 1980 - I invented the internet - but was too busy planning a trip to the moon to establish the idea. This story has a point. Which is:

Recently I have been attempting to write a novel that I have decided should take place in a small village in Romania; nowhere else will do. Yet, I've never been to Romania. I also have no disposable income to pay for a trip there, nor a benevolent publisher who might cover the cost of the trip under the guise of "research". In days gone by, this would have caused a problem. To accurately portray a country as unfamiliar as Romania is to me, I would have had to spend weeks, months even years in libraries digging out facts about population, geography, cultural preferences, history and so forth in order to create a believable backdrop against which to set the story. I might have spoken to people from that country, or those who had visited it; maybe sampled indigenous foods, listened to music - anything to get a better feel for the place. That process is changing. Nowadays, thanks to the internet and its many search engines writers can conduct their research at a much-accelerated pace. Chief among the millions of web resources is its most frequently-visited encyclopedia, Wikipedia. Wikipedia means no more hours spent in dimly-lit library backrooms, shoulder deep in dusty books. Research has now been boiled down to a few hours on a laptop at a crumb-flecked table in an overpriced coffee shop. This may not necessarily be a good thing.

For starters, Wikipedia is an ever-changing and resource reliant on the accuracy of its contributors (who, for all we know, cut and paste their facts from other websites) and the moderators who police the site. It has made for some amusingly false and libellous accounts. Of course, any writers worth their salt should cross-reference and check their facts, but why believe one anonymously-written internet site over another? Sooner or later you're going to have to drain your coffee cup, brush away the muffin crumbs and check these facts in more reliable resources. Like, books. In libraries and that. The other problem is, research only presents the cold facts. The smell and feel of a place, for example, can never be fully conveyed via the internet. The Wikipedia entry on Romania, for example, contains 6,804 words, the length of a large newspaper article but less than a student dissertation - and certainly way too short to document the entire history and experience of a country. Yet so far - I'm ashamed to admit - Wikipedia has been my prime source. The days of laborious research to produce credible fiction are disappearing. More and more, writers simpley click a link, skim-read an article, and extract the (questionable) facts. Clearly there is an argument then that far from keeping us informed and up to date, the internet and sites such as Wikipedia are in fact making writers lazy, unconvincing and inaccurate. I hope I'm not one of them. (Ben Myers, 2007)

"Now we've got the Internet, why do we still need libraries?" A.B. Credaro ©2001-2002
Many thousands of web pages exist, comparing the advantages and disadvantages of using the Internet instead of a traditional library. Many of these are personal opinions, with the authors ranging from commercial sites to professional organisations. However, educationally-valid research on this topic has been ongoing for over a decade, with results compared over 3 continents so far. The findings prove conclusively that academic achievement - how well students perform at school - has a direct correlation to the quality of a school's library services. Click here for some details of this research. The popular press in Australia a few years ago came to the conclusion that the "best predictor of academic performance was the students' postcode". However, this correlation was drawn from HSC results for particular schools. When the quality of the school's library services is examined, a further correlation becomes apparent - the schools in the more affluent areas had a higher quality school library services. Research has shown that developing good library services - even in economically disadvantaged areas - improved students' achievements in standardised tests. So how does one define an exemplary school library service? It does not depend only how many books (or even computers) are in the school library, but refers also to the structure of the library programs, the number of qualified staff, the degree of meaningful access, and many other more technical aspects of library operation. One example of this exemplary school library practice is that of keeping information technology in context with information literacy. In the recent past, school library book budgets have dwindled, as "technology" budgets have consumed a greater slice of the budget pie. Direct observation, supported by anecdotal evidence, has witnessed a plethora of students undertaking research via the Internet, without any reference to print-based resources. However, classroom teachers have noted that the "quality" of the information has decreased with an increase in access to the Internet. Many students mistakenly believe that "everything" is available on the Internet. Whilst there is much valuable information out there, consider that: * There are over 4 billion unique, publicly accessible websites * Only 6% of these have educational content

* The average life of a webpage is 75 days
* Google, the largest search engine, has indexed less than 18% of the available pages * A great deal of the Internet is not able to be indexed by traditional search engines, and remains hidden from them. This is known as the Invisible, or Deep, Web. * Anyone can publish a web page - no-one checks that the information is correct, current or able to be authenticated * And yes, there are unpleasant sites on the Internet, although these make up less than 1% of all web pages. Consider comparing the above list with the resources in the school library: * The resources have all been individually selected by a trained professional, to cater specifically to the school's educational programs * A catalogue of the library resources exists, so that anyone can find everything in the library * As the Teacher Librarian is a qualified teacher, as well as a trained librarian, there is always someone on hand to help find the information, interpret difficult concepts, and locate information from beyond the physical library. The Internet is an incredibly powerful research aid, but can be time-consuming, frustrating, or misleading. However, there are many advantages to using the Internet for research, such as: * The ability to access the very latest information. Library books take time to order, accession and be available on the shelves. * Being able to communicate directly with subject experts by email. Whilst students can phone local experts, or write to distant ones, electronic communication allows fast, and cheap, answers to questions. Some Internet sites provi...

-2002 /fondren/netguides/strategies.html) /what 1 1.99 100 12 149 15 18 189 1963 1980 2 20 2001 2006 2007 2010 2012 2013 21 22.75 26 3 3.25 3.99 30 39 4 499 50 6 7 75 8 804 9.99 99 a.b abil abl about.com abstract academ acceler accept access accomplish accord account accur accuraci accus achiev ad addit address adjust administ admit adult advantag advent advertis advic affect affluent age agenc agenda agent ago aid aim aisl allow almost alreadi also altern although alway amazon among amount amus analog analysi anecdot anonym anonymously-written anoth answer anti anti-glar anybodi anyon anyth appar appeal appear appl appropri arbitrari archiv area argument array arriv art articl articlebase.com asham ask aspect assign assist associ attempt attend attent attribut audienc audio august australia authent author authorit automat avail averag away backdrop background backroom bandwidth barn base basi basic becom began begin behind believ ben benefit benevol best better bewar beyond bias biggest billion biographi bit blip boil book bookstor bostock bother bottom box bring broader brochur broke brows brush budget bulk busi buy came cannot capabl care carri case catalogu cater caus cent center centuri certain chang chapter charact cheap check chief child choos chosen circa citat cite claim clarif class classic classroom clear click client code coffe cohort cold collect colleg com come commerci commonplac communic communiti compani compar comparison complain complet compon comprehens comput con concept concern conclus condit conduct confetti confin confront connoisseur consequ consid consist conspir construct consum contain contend content context contin continu contributor convert convey cooper cope copi copier copyright correct correl cost costs/public could couldn counterpart countri cours court cover covet creat credaro credenti credibl criteria cross cross-refer crumb crumb-fleck crumbl cultur cup current cut d dad daili data databas date daunt day deal debat decad decemb decenc decid decis decompos decreas deep defin degrad degre deliv deliveri delv demand democrat deni depart depend describ design desktop detail determin develop development devic devot dictat differ difficult dig digit dim dimly-lit direct directori disadvantag disappear disclosur disk dispos dissert distant distinct distort distract distribut distributor district divid dizzi doctor document doesn doj dollar domain done dougla download downsid drain drawn dream drop drudgeri drudgery/higher due dust dusti dwindl e e-book e-mail e-read easi easier easili econom edit editor edu educ educationally-valid effort either electron element elementari elimin els email embrac employe encount encyclopedia end engag engin english enhanc enorm enough entir entri entry-level ephemer equal equit especi establish etc evalu even event ever ever-chang everi everyth evid examin exampl excel except exemplari exist exit expect expenditur expens experi expert explor extend extens extent extract eye eye-strain face facil facilit fact factor fail fair fals far fast featur fee feel fiction figur fill filter final financ financi find finish fire first first-person five fix flat fleck flexibl focus folk follow font food forget form formal format forth found four fraction free frequent frequently-visit fresh friend frozen frustrat full fulli fund futur gain game gather gem general generat geographi geometr get giant give given glare glean go goal goe gone good googl got gov govern government grade graduat grammar graphic great greater green group grow guarante guard guidelin guis gutenburg hachett hand happen happi hard harpercollin hasn health heap heavi hefti held helium.com help hidden high high-tech higher highway hilt hire histor histori hit hobbi hold home homepag hope hour hous howev hsc huffington human hundr hyperspace/walking idea ideal illeg illustr imag imagin imper import improv inaccur includ inclus incom increas incred incur indefinit independ index indic indigen individu industri influx inform ink insight instant instead institut instruct intellectu intend interest internet interpret interspers introduct invent invis involv ipad irish isn issu journal journalist june junior justic justifi keep kept key kill kind kindl knew know knowledg known labori laptop larg larger largest last later latest law lawsuit lazi leapfrog learn least leav leeway left legitim length less lesson let level leverag libari libel librari librarian life like limit line link list listen lit literaci literatur littl load local locat log long longer look lose lost lot low lower lowest lucki m machin macmillan made magazin mail main maintain major make mammoth mani manner market mass materi matter may mayb mean meaning meant media mediat meet memoir memori men mental mention mere method methodolog middl might millenia million minut misinform mislead mistaken model moder modern modifi month moon motiv move much much-acceler muffin multimedia multipl multitud music must myer name narrat narrow nation natur near necess necessari necessarili need negat neighbor never new newest news newspap next nexus no-on nobl non non-profit nontradit nook note notic novel novelti nowaday nowher number ny observ obtain offer offic offici offset often old one ongo onlin oper opinion opportun optic option order organ organis origin other otherwis outdat outlet outsold overal overhead overlook overpr own pace packag page paid pam paper paragraph parent part partial particular pass past pay peer pen penguin peopl percentag perform perhap period perpetu person phone physic pick pictur pie piec piraci place plagiar plain plan plethora plus point pointer polic polit popul popular portion portray pose posit possibl post postcod poster power practic predictor predigest prefer prepar present press pressur pretti previous price primari prime print print-bas printer prior privileg probabl problem process produc product profession profit profound program project promot proper properti propos pros prove provid provis public publish purchas purpos qualifi qualiti quantiti question quick rais rampant random rang rank rate re read readabl reader real real-to-r realiti realli reassess receiv recent recharg record recreat reduc refer reflect regard regular relat releas reliabl reliant remain rememb report repres reput requir research research/view resourc respons restrict result retail return review rice rip risk roll romania room rubric run safe sake salari sale salt sampl sarah save say scale scanner scatter scholar school schuster scienc scientist scope scrap screech screen search second secondari see seem seen seldom select self self-serv sell send separ serious serv server servic set settl sever share shelf shelf-lif shelv ship shop short shoulder shouldn shown side sign signific simon simpl simpley sinc singl site situat skill skim skim-read slice slight slowli small smaller smell societi someon someth somewher soon sooner sophist sort sound sourc space specif spend spent spoken stack staff standard standardis start starter state station step still store stori storm strain stream street stress structur student studi study/ideas stupid style subject submiss submit subscrib subscript success suffici suggest suit sunlight supplement suppli support sure switch system t.v tabl tablet tag take taken tape task taught teach teacher tech technic technolog tell temptat ten tend tenni term test text textbook thank thing think thirteen thought thousand threat thrill thrillingly-titl tier time time-bas time-consum titl today took tool topic toss total tradit train tree trend tri triag trial trip troubl trust truth two two-tier type typic typist unchang uncheck unconvinc undergon understand undertak unequ unfamiliar uniqu univers unless unlik unlimit unord unpleas unrel unusu updat url us use useless usual util valid valu valuabl value-ad vari varieti ve verac version via video videotap vie villag visit vs w wade wail wander want way wear web webpag websit weed week weigh well whilst whole wide wide-array wiki wikipedia wish wit within without won wonder word work workbook world worth would wrestl write writer written wrong www.rice.edu www.rice.edu/fondren/netguides/strategies.html) year yes yet