tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9178123692674418499.post9124732993179580260..comments2023-06-29T09:22:56.707-04:00Comments on DefTechPR: Why Books Should Become More ImportantAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11661434426287906658noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9178123692674418499.post-60920224690599390582012-01-15T05:05:53.057-05:002012-01-15T05:05:53.057-05:00Cerys, you raise a critically important point. The...Cerys, you raise a critically important point. The number of times I hear (and say) "Google it" when seeking to validate a particular point or find an answer to a question is growing at a frightening pace.<br /><br />I have got involved in open source training projects recently, since I have become a practitioner of open source searching as part of my consultancy business. The secret, of course, is to use multiple search engines in order to avoid being too heavily influenced by Google (or one's search engine of choice). <br /><br />The wider question, however, is how to ensure we - as individual users and consumers - manage the progressive evolution of expectation. The Internet has led us to believe that answers to questions can be found easily and rapidly, depending on how well defined our search questions are. Use of multiple search engines to access a wider scope of available information may be increasingly counter-intuitive, unless we keep a mantra "I need to validate the information, not just locate it" running permanently at the back of our minds.<br /><br />The sources we use bear significant responsibility for validation, peer review and accuracy - but so do we as individuals have a similar responsibility to test and question, not just accept the World According to Wiki. As an example, one naval character I was researching recently had three separate dates of death listed in 'tertiary' sources - one of which was before he was born. When I eventually found the man's obituary in an online version of the Annual Obituary and Register for 1823 - all three dates were in error!<br /><br />The Internet is a magnificently liberating resource for the inquisitive; it does not and should not, however, be a substitute for our own critical faculties.Tim Mahonhttp://www.trainingandsimulationforum.netnoreply@blogger.com