The digital realm is limitless when compared to old age text and 19th century (and before) dissertations. We now have the ability to read and/ or listen to something online and use citations and hyperlinks to dive deeper into fact checking, confirming doubt, or just learning more about that topic. These online databases, such as The Toronto Star: Pages of the Past and the Globe and Mail, talked about by Ian Milligan, that gives us over ten years of data to look at plus the digital references and pathways to find even more and earlier data regarding the subject. For me, a book is my favorite source of learning, but I would be lying if I said that all of my questions and thoughts get answered or touched on in a paper-back book; I now have the ability to read a book and then go online and research all of the underlying meanings and ideas that are sparked in my mind due to the text. Before the digital age, people would read a book, or a dissertation and that was it; you could think about it, read similar texts or other people’s ideas, but it was never something that you could truly dig to the bottom of. 1
Academically, being able to ‘surf the web’ and research things online is a monumental change. Instead of going to the library, searching for a specific book or article, you can simply type into Google and find not only your answer, but a more in depth explanation on what you are looking for, but we are pretending that it is the same as physically reading a book or finding an answer ourselves. Personally, digital projects are great; giving those who may not know how to physically go out and find events a place to learn, and eventually join in and help in whatever way they can. These projects are also great because whether we like to admit it or not, we do not acknowledge big events that we may drive by with that much detailed thought; they kind of get brushed under the rug once they are not there anymore. These digital projects are anchored into the web, being forever attainable. So being able to use Google, Electronic Books, and Digital Projects, students and people in general have the resources to research anything and everything they want rather than having a ceiling that is the front and back of a book. 2
With all of that being said, I believe we lose some of our retainability when researching things online or typing a paper rather than reading a book or writing on paper. I definitely retain information better when I write it in a notebook rather than type it into a word document. I can type without looking or while having a conversation, as I’m sure many people can, but I am fully concentrated on what I am writing while writing and it engages my mind much more. It is obvious that we can research more things on the internet rather than in books or dissertations, but because of that, we tend to scratch the surface of thousands of topics rather than learning or mastering them. Reading a book and thinking about what you are reading gives our brains much more of a workout than a simple google search. I believe we are becoming lazy. I mean, why would I read a whole book or textbook for information that I can watch on YouTube? The efficiency and easy access of the internet is being replaced with regular, personal thought. We can learn whatever we want while sitting on a couch on our lap tops; that damages us because we are not then practicing the art of going out and finding things on our own.
- https://muse.jhu.edu/article/527016
- http://masonslegacies.org/
