A500.3.4.RB_MedleyKim Hunt or Google

          How often do we hear someone answer a question with, “Just Google it”? Decades ago, my father gave similar advice. Whenever I would ask a question, often times I was told to, “Look it up in your Funk & Wagnalls”. Today, my children would raise an eyebrow and look at me as if I were speaking a foreign language if I gave the same advice. Technology has literally put the answers to our questions at our fingertips. The only problem with such instant gratification is we no longer question the answers. A Google search is conducted, the first entry that pops up is often chosen, we believe the answer because; after all, if it’s on the Internet; it must be true, right? Scholarly resources, such as the Hunt Library, provide the same technological access as Google; but the information originates from more credible sources and the search refinements allow more flexibility in refining a search. In order to understand the wonderment of online libraries, it’s important to understand how research was conducted when I attended high school.

          Funk & Wagnalls was a brand of encyclopedia. My parents purchased a set so I would have them for high school term papers. Like most sets, there were individual volumes, separate books that covered topics in an alphabetic manner. For instance, the subject of organizational leadership would be found in the volume marked as N - O. Sometimes, the entry would refer the reader to a broader topic, like leadership, and instruct the reader to “see leadership”. So, this meant the volume for topics from L – M had to be taken from the shelf, opened, the term leadership had to be located, and one prayed the information was sufficient for the research being conducted. More often than not, the material was limited. Additionally, the moment the printing process for encyclopedias was finished, the information was already obsolete. There was not any way to update the information other than to find more current print sources. This required a trip to the library. In 1978, that meant a bike ride from my home to the brick and mortar library. Armed with notebooks and pencils, the first stop was the card catalog. This was a physical cabinet with small drawers containing index cards with the names and authors of books housed in the library. Ever heard of the Dewey Decimal System? Today, the answer on Jeopardy would be, “a method for classifying and placing books on shelves” and the question would be, “what is the Dewey Decimal System”? If you did not know the name of the book, then you had to ask the librarian for help to find research material. I spent hours at the library for each term paper.

          Thanks to Al Gore and his invention, sarcasm intended, the Internet makes research easy. A library card is not required. One doesn’t have to understand how to use a card catalogue. In fact, traditional card catalogues are now online databases and a few key strokes returns searches that once took hours to complete. For demonstration purposes, I conducted a Google search. I types in “leadership concept” and the search engine returned 63,500,000 results (Google, 2014). In order to narrow the search, I entered “key concepts of leadership”. This time, 2,710,000 results were found. Can you imagine the amount of time I would need to expend to begin the process of reviewing the results to determine if the source is credible and if the information is accurate? An online library, like the Hunt Library, helps students, like me, use time in a more productive manner so more time can be devoted to writing of the paper, rather than finding acceptable sources.

          After following the link for the Hunt Library, I typed in “leadership concept” in the search bar. Rather than receiving more than sixty-three million results, my search returned 888,171 sources. The Hunt Library gives students the option to refine searches to those that provide complete online text and are peer reviewed. A search time frame can be defined which proves beneficial when researching to find either historic or recent items of information (Hunt Library, 2014). As I did with Google, I refined my search by limiting the search to “articles from peer-reviewed publications” and further enhanced the search to include “journal article” only results (Hunt Library, 2014). My initial research of 888,171 was reduced to 183,969. Had I chosen to enter a date range, the results would have been lower.

          An online library takes the convenience of Google or any search engine and applies it to a wealth of resources that may not be accessible from a simple Internet search. It also reduces the hunt and peck technique I use to determine if the article found on Google is credible, complete, viewable, and if full content is available without charge. The scholarly information housed in libraries, like the Hunt Library, has gone through a process many newspaper articles are not required to endure. Students, researchers, professors, and experts in the field have reviewed the material presented, tested theories and hypotheses presented, proffered opinions, and have consulted outside sources to either prove or disprove position(s). If an article about Miley Cyrus and how twerking has impacted her life in either positive or negative manner appeared in the Hunt Library, chances are the question has been looked at nine ways to Sunday and a reasonable conclusion has been drawn. Contrast this with a report from E! News, and you may find it lacks sufficient data from which to make a final assessment.

          During my undergraduate years, I took advantage of the school’s online library. That does not mean I discarded information found through a Google search. By using a resource like the Hunt Library, you gain a better understanding of credible sources and that can be used to identify credible sources from simple Internet searches. Like a brick and mortar library, a librarian is available. The online chat feature will give me the chance to ask for help when searching for resources. There are many databases contained within online libraries and sometimes a little guidance goes a long way in reducing frustration when trying to find books or articles. Although these electronic features are awesome, I must admit I still enjoy going to the local library, walking up and down the aisles, looking at the books on shelves, meeting the librarian face-to-face, and losing myself in the quiet that still epitomizes a library. Although the methodology has changed, the concept of looking it up in my Funk & Wagnalls still rings true and still brings a smile to my face.