Beyond the Internet

Book excerpt: Beyond the Internet offers a philosophy of research that illustrates the benefits of broadening one’s approach. The message for researchers, librarians, teachers, parents, and students is simple: The Internet is not a complete reference source and is often inaccurate. The issue is not what you cannot find on the Internet, but what you miss if you only consult the Internet. To fully investigate a subject, you need also to consult a wide range of traditional resources that have not been digitized, including documents and correspondence, government records, and holdings in private collections. Besides these sources, researchers should appreciate the benefits of interviews and on-site visits. These sources provide the threads that links our past to our present. The book also emphasizes the difference between acquiring facts that answer a specific question and the process of analytical thinking that goes into assessing a subject. Serendipitous finds and new interpretations based on previously unknown sources require research in original materials. The author uses challenges culled from her own work in American history and as a reference book editor to illustrate the different resources described. These anecdotes lend a personal element to the highly practical advice contained in the chapters. Each chapter describes a specific resource, provides relevant case studies, and offers tips and techniques for using that resource. This updated edition explores how the Internet has become an even more compromised tool in recent years by enabling artificial intelligence and social media to manipulate information. This book examines the need to pursue traditional research techniques and how to use them to validate information from the Internet. If you want to research such topics as the origins of terrorism, the complicated background to hostilities in the Middle East, the evolution of U.S. politics, or the decline in basic reading and math skills, you need to consult original materials. Students should learn what sources are available and how to use them so they can make informed decisions about everything from elections to foreign policy. Whatever your interests, you need to diversify your approach and go Beyond the Internet.