Benefits and Drawbacks of the Internet as a Research Source

In spite of the fact that when doing research, it has become obvious choice to turn to the Internet, like all tools, the Internet has a unique property to create both advantages and disadvantages.

On the positive side, the Internet offers the following:

- Access to new and valuable sources of information that came into being because of the Internet. These include discussion groups on the Internet and electronic journals (e-journals).

- Route more efficient for newspaper, access to information sources certain standard such as an electronic version of the print magazine of existing papers and especially overseas like this.

- Access to vast amounts of information. It is estimated that at present, there are about 800 million pages of information on the Web.

- I access the view of non-mainstream. People do not have access to the printing press and media and fringe groups, can be their opinions known on the Internet now.

- Access to information difficult and ambiguous. Because it has a variety of interest on the Internet, for many people there are, in many cases, the search will be able to increase the hard tolocate nugget to be the most unusual in the data.

- Access to the version of the digitized primary sources. Some libraries, made the (electronic version of the source of major research in order to display on the Internet personal letter like that, official government documents, treaties, and as the photos, and make the use of these are f) digital Te. The same, audio and, in some cases, I apply to video.

- Access to the data set and a searchable database. There are many sites on the Internet that allows you to search a collection of statistical data, such as social science and demographic data such as this. Some databases on the Internet are fee-based, but the others are free.

- Access to government information. U.S. federal government is one of the publisher of world's largest, it takes advantage of the Internet as a preferred method for disseminating that information much.

- Access to international information. And also, you can not only, by you to connect to the site embassy, ​​consulates, foreign government easily, to find a formal data from other countries, search news groups on the newspaper of other countries in individuals from other countries will be able to find a Web site that is established by, to discuss the issues with citizens from all over the world.

Internet are as follows: The main advantage of the other brings to the researchers

- Speed. If you do a search on the Internet, it might take just a few seconds.

- Timely. On the Internet, you can find the information that is made available soon only a few minutes.

- Multi-media. Not only text, but graphics, audio, and Internet provides a video.

- Hyperlink. Able to click between Web pages, you can display the data to promote an associative type of research, it is easy to quote, support from the text.

On the downside, true to the researchers, despite the growth advantage at first glance, the Internet, and presents some drawbacks still. Among the most important:

- A diverse collection of information. The Internet is one of the strengths of information really, but it is also a potpourri Dano one of its weaknesses. It is possible to come across all of the from the public academic papers on particle physics to essay a 14-year-old in the summer vacation of her, as well as the organization wires like Reuters and respected Press AP, and from misinformation from the Holocaust on the net There are scientific reports from the U.S. Department of Energy, and there are ads and commercials; denial group has a feed. All of this diversity, it can be difficult you to isolate and determine the only input to the desired information.

- To search effectively is difficult. That there is a searchable of the library, electronic database traditional might need to practice and learn a little, but to get the hang of it once, you can become a searcher effective. However, on the Internet, even if you know all the ins and outs of search, limit how Web pages and Internet search engine built-in reason is created, you can search for what a small percentage you just net can be. In addition, and not be able to distinguish the valuable from the trivial pages easily, you can get unexpected results.

- Focus on new information. As a result, the time delay most of the information available on the Internet, the web, and, came into being in the early 1990s. However, this loading is changing as the owner of a particular Web site, the old, the archive material.

- Lack of context. Search engine, because it returns a single page only from a multi-page document, you can miss the larger context in which the information was derived.

- Lack of persistence. The Web page, which is unstable notorious. They appear, navigate, will disappear on a regular basis. This can be of particular concern for academic researchers, there is a need to quote the page stable for reference purposes.

- Selection of the press. In spite of the size of the Internet, most of the knowledge of the world, and in the print still. So, the search for information on the Internet, represents a comprehensive search of the literature and knowledge of the world in no way.

Similarly, the search engine in the "off limits", good deal of what is not searchable on the Internet. Only input, things accessible is included in the people who pay the subscription fee or registration, the password is off-limits these sites. These include a major commercial, most of the online services that have (for example, Dialog, LexisNexis) the presence on the Web and database of fee-based. Newspaper, and professional association members-only sites that require registration or subscription is included in site of "off-limits" other.

In all, 1, you can see that the research has been able to fault and blessing for good research results on the Internet. But, at least, that you do some research on the Internet, you can provide a good foundation of research endevours for you.