Doing "Research" has radically changed in the modern world..

[Stuart G]

I was thinking a moment ago..who was that old senator from Pennsylvania who became a democrat?..something brought that into my brain.....so I typed those exact words into the Google Search space at the top of the screen and came up with Arlen Specter.
.Yes, I recalled, Arlen Specter is the answer that I was looking for...."an old senator from Pennsylvania who became a democrat."

Google Search found the answer in less than a second...Now if I had one of those hand held things, I could have talked to the computer, and would have got the answer from someone called ...."Sere"...I know that one is not spelled right..ok..I can't spell...often the computer finds some of the misspelled words and corrects them by itself...

So what I was saying is that research of any kind has changed radically. It is almost as if you do not teach students how to use the library...or search in a library. And I believe that is not at all good. Knowing the "library" is extremely important in education...I am not sure that knowing ..."Serre" or what her name is ...is that important...After all, I am typing this right now,...without Ser I'...or however she spells it.

[greymattermom]

1. Students only use screens now

and in medical school, the correct answer to anything is "Ask Dr Google".

[Stuart G]

3. I am honestly scared of this...

There is something that does not "feel right" about this.. Maybe it is just a more "mature" person reacting to change. Learning to search and use the library always seemed to be very important..............In the same vain...I was at the library a couple of months ago, and had a desire to check out the ..".READERS GUIDE TO PERIODICAL LITERATURE.."

guess what?.. It is no longer being published..I think they stopped updating it 3 or 4 years ago..no new info in that search tool........again...hard to believe, ... but no new info in Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature...No new copies published, no new info like that any more.....as you said...just ask...Dr Google...

[cilla4progress]

2. I recall being horrified when a lawyer I worked for

Google searched whenever she needed to research something she didn't know. Now i see it is pretty universal!

There is still a need for human data gathering, analysis of the research, etc.

[DetlefK]

4. The mental structure of scholars/researchers sure has changed over time:

In the Middle-Ages, when there was little hard science known, what made an intelligent person was knowing a lot. In the olden days, before mass-production of books, that meant mental techniques like the memory-palace. If you are properly trained in that technique and are accustomed to it, you can memorize huge amounts of raw data. Lists upon lists upon lists.

That changed when books became widely available. The memory-palace, while once a mandatory tool for any scholar, was slowly falling out of use. Instead of memorizing facts, it became important to know in which books you could find the facts.

And the internet changed that once again: Instead of KNOWING facts per se, it has become far more important to know how to find them and how to digest them.
Books are being replaced by the internet.
And the memory-palace is a curiosity with very few active practicioners.

[JayhawkSD]

5. Definition of "expert"

Not someone who knows everything; someone who knows where to find out.

That being said, today's quick search for information all too often turns up misinformation. There is danger in that.

Also there is value in learning by doing searches the old fashioned way. For one thing you discover things you weren't looking for and expand your knowledge. But even more so, you develop the ability of your mind by developing mental disciplines and abilities as you do the search.

I once had an engineer working for me who kept looking at the slide rule which I kept on my desk and occasionally used. He not only did not know how to use it, he was not real sure what it was. When he finally asked I showed him how I used it and he was totally mystified. Turned out he knew what a logarithm is but had never understood them or how they worked. I could kind of sympathize, because it was through manipulating and using a slide rule that logarithms came to life for me.

How does a mechanical engineer function without an understanding of something as basic? Well, he can get by using today's calculator, but...