Well, I thought all the information was on the Internet.
Once upon a time...
All the information could be found in
books,
magazines, journals,
newspapers, and so on.
That's totally lame!
Well, the Internet is indeed a vast body of knowledge
that is truly useful to today's researchers,
but it does not include all the information.
It particularly does not offer free access
to the information college researchers have always relied on.
For example, it doesn't offer free access
to most peer-reviewed articles--
which are the articles written by experts.
But there are experts on the Internet!
It's up to you.
If you are serious about your college education,
it's a good idea to understand the difference between
the open web,
where all the free information is
and the invisible web,
where much of the information written and published by experts can be found.
FYI: the invisible web is just a fancy way of describing
information that cannot be accessed through search engines
such as Google and Yahoo.
This segment of the Internet
includes information available in research databases,
and this information is often password-protected.
Indeed, some of these databases are commercial products that require a subscription,
such as The New York Times Online
or Academic Search Premier.
I can read The New York Times on the Internet for free.
You can read selections from The New York Times for free.
but if you want comprehensive coverage...
or if you want access to their archives,
you'll need a subscription.
At the very least,
you'll need access to an institution
that has purchased a subscription on your behalf,
such as your college library...
even your public library!
Again, Google won't take you
to comprehensive coverage of The New York Times,
but your library website just might.
At this time the San Diego Public Library offers
its patrons access to
Proquest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times - 1851 to 2009.
And the Cuyamaca College Library offers
users access to EBSCO's Newspaper Source Plus,
which includes full-text newspaper articles
from around the country.
Of course both of these libraries
provide many more useful databases
that give their users access
to books and articles
they won't find on the open web.
Try Googling Cuyamaca Library
and then look the link,
"Articles and Databases: A to Z."
Special note:
You must be a student or a college employee
to access these databases.
If you Google
San Diego Public Libary
you'll find useful databases under "eCollection."
Don't forget,
you will need a library card
in order to access these resources.
Remember, research databases have become standard library fare.
You should expect to find them on almost all college library websites
as well as on larger public library websites.
And don't forget your libary's print collection,
even if you do think it belongs in the dinosaur days.
Who uses books nowadays?
They may seem outdated,
but it important to understand
that some relevant academic information
may still only be available to you in print formats.
Electronic databases are expensive.
So your library has had to make some tough choices
regarding the databases it chooses to make available.
Yet libraries still house useful information in their print collections,
information you won't be able to find on the Internet.
And while many newly published books
are now being released
in both print and electronic editions,
there are still plenty of useful books
that may only be availabe to you in hard copy.
This will be especially true
if your library hasn't been able to build
a large ebook collection.
What about Google Books?
If you determined to locate a useful ebook,
thereby passing up a trip to the library,
you should understand that most electronic editions
of books under copyright
are not going to be available for free
through Google or Yahoo.
Google Books, for example,
is far from comprehensive.
Here's a direct quote from the Google Books website:
Fiction: Google Books lets you download
any book in the world for free.
Fact: Google Books helps you search within
and discover books,
not download or read books without paying for them.
So you tell me,
where can I find some good ebooks?
In order to peruse a good ebook collection
for college research,
one that includes current books,
you will probably need to turn to
a library that offers one.
In the end,
the student who takes the time to track down
relevant books and articles
the student who learns how to use databases,
such as Academic Onefile
or EBSCO's ebook Collection,
may write a better paper
than the student who just finds a few links on the web.
What's not on the Internet...
for free, anyway?
Books under copyright.
Articles from subscription journals, magazines, and newspapers,
though you may find a smattering of what is truly available.
Many public records and other documents
created before the 1990s.
Sources not published in electronic editions.
You should understand that some of these sources
are particulalry useful
to college researchers.
Don't assume you will find the equivalent information through Google or Yahoo.
Remember,
when you do turn to the Internet for college research
try to keep in mind that it is not a seamless sea of information.
In other words,
not all the information on the Internet is equal.
And all the information is not on the Internet.
Sounds like a riddle.
Try to think about the differences between
the open web,
the web you search using Google or Yahoo,
which offers you access to anything anyone has ever decided to make available for free,
and traditionally pubished information--
books, journals, magazines and newspapers
which were produced by paid experts and professionals.
These sources may be available to you on the web for purchase
or for free though library databases.
Again, you will encounter selections of traditionally published information
on the open web for free,
such as current news appearing in respected newspapers,
or copies of books through Google Books.
Yet keep in mind
that you are only stumbling onto bits and pieces
of a vast body of knowledge worthy of being methodically surveyed for academic work.
If you only rely on what you can find
on the open web,
you will end up ignoring much of the work written by the experts.
In the end,
students who know where to locate organized, wide-ranging coverage
of the infomation and literature in their fields,
will be at an advantage over those who don't!