Using the Internet for Research
The internet has been one of the greatest tools for education since the invention of chalk. To allow any student to have a repository of knowledge at his or her fingertips supplements the classroom experience exponentially. This is particularly true of the college experience, as innumerable factors drive the gap of knowledge a student may possess. Closing the gap is the internet, with the ability to be a quick and endless resource that equalizes the playing field of depth and breadth of knowledge on any given topic. For example, when I was in high school, I had a World History teacher that was incredibly long winded. By the end of my senior year, we hadn’t even made it to World War I. I lacked a great deal of background knowledge in history when I entered college and found my Contemporary European History course daunting to say the least. This was just before the days of the world wide web and supplementing my knowledge meant many afternoons at the library sifting through history books until my eyes ached and head pounded. Those days can now be replaced with a couple of hours on the internet following links, checking out video and even downloading a podcast of a different university’s class. All I would have had to do if the internet had been around then was download a lecture on World History, post 1914, put it on my iPod and listened during my workout and I’d have been up to speed. The opportunities are endless.
However, for some, the internet, particularly in relation to research and finding academic information on a specific topic, is like being asked to weed through all the food in a grocery store, thrown on a pile, and find the ingredients for a souffle. And worse yet, you may not be sure how to make a souffle in the first place or know what you’re looking for. This is often the case for students that are attempting to find research on the internet for a research paper. They know their topic, but from there, the questions begin to pile up and turn into a mountain too daunting to even attempt the first step.
Paper Masters is beginning a 10 part series on “Using the Internet for Research”. We will be going over the benefits and drawbacks of internet research; how to find academic journals and valid peer reviewed sources; what constitutes an “academic” source; types of resources such as primary and secondary sources; and much more. Watch for the series to begin later this week.
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