Thursday, February 25, 2010
Rules of Academics are Changing
Technology is changing everything. As an undergraduate student this is evident in the position papers you write. Now you find reliable sources on the web which is much less time consuming then it was 15 years ago when you had to go to the library and pull up each article. This article from the Freakonomics blog explains how the world of high end Academics are changing as well. A good read for those interested in graduate school (especially those interested in a PhD).
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Becca Keener American Economy M/W/F 10-10:50
ReplyDeleteI think it is really nice that most library resources can now be accessed via an online database. Waiting for books to come in from other libraries across the state when your library doesn't have it takes weeks or months of waiting. Now you have access to knowledge at your fingertips. Libraries are still great and I recommend them if the materials are present but if not, the database works well.
It sounds like this is negatively affecting some graduate students though. Those students who must write a dissertation are now having to revise and resubmint many times with publishing criteria buckling down and becoming more challenging. I know it must be very difficult to write such an academic paper like a dissertation, so with this change, it will make it even more difficult. Good luck PhD grad students!!
Whoever thought of online databases is amazing. I can't imagine how long it took college students to research and write papers before. Even by spending hours in the library, I'm sure they couldn't narrow down all the sources like the online database does, so online databases are definitely helping us write very strong and educated papers.
ReplyDeleteAs for grad students, I don't think they should change the criteria for their dissertations. It may have become easier to find the sources than before because of online databases, but because of the particular sources they can acquire, the dissertations of grad students will be much more current and informative. Online Databases don't necessarily make the work easier, they just assist students in receiving the right information
Thank god for the online database. I remember searching for data for my first position paper, I really had to look in only one place. I would not even want to think about writing a paper without looking up my sources in an online database. All the time and effort put behind going to the library and searching through books and articles give me a headache just thinking about it.
ReplyDeleteBut, I think since media is changing the way we research and basically do everything in society, maybe the criteria for dissertations should be altered as well. I mean I am no expert, but being a journalism major it seems I am having to constantly learn and hear about a new way of reporting or I am learning about the way journalism is constantly changing due to technology. Maybe then it shows altering the criteria a bit would be a good challenge. It may be difficult, but hey.. I do not think getting a PhD is supposed to be cake walk.
I think that online databases are the one of the best things that has happened for research. It is so much easier than actually going to the library and looking up something the old fashioned way. Although some people may debate that the old fashioned way is the better way to do it. Sometimes it could be hard to know what information is useful and what is trash. Online databases are also great because they cut down your time for research. You could find just about anything in 15 minutes or less!
ReplyDeleteOnline databases has its ups and downs. For the most part it is very convenient. I do feel as though the convenience results in laziness. The database allows students to do a project the night before the project is due, and with the high expectations of the teacher due to the convenience that paper won't be looked highly upon. I would have loved to live in the era before databases were highly available so I can actually see which one was better. Some students don't know how to use the databases and often times don't find the source that is best for them, maybe there are too many options open to us that we don't know how to utilize them.
ReplyDeleteOnline databases have brought the world of education to another level. Students are now able to find more content that is more relevant in less time. Ultimately leading to a more concise and documented paper. There are a few downsides, such as the newer generations ignorance of how to use a library. Many young people today struggle with the Dewey Decimal system and the basics of physically searching through books. While these things might not seem important many people do not realize just how much people learned by searching for information. And it is a valid point that it saves a lot of time and energy to find sources but is there a negative side to that? Does that make the student lazier and rush through the assignment? Overall I do think that online databases are a good thing, for they have brought more access to more sources that people generally would not have seen, yet I do think there can be found some negative aspects.
ReplyDeleteI think that our online databases can certainly be to our benefit. I agree that it saves a lot of time but it also adds far more sources to include and while skimming may seem productive, it sometimes leads to leaving out the most important pieces of a document. It allows students to pick out SPECIFICALLY what they want, even if it was not the entire idea of the document/text. Students should be more critical of this availability if anything and while maybe the requirements for published work should not change, the demand for better and better sources should lead researchers to raise their standards.
ReplyDeleteWhat's funny is that in the realm of academia, the accredited people of the past are still slow to admit legitimacy. So many college professors still look down upon streamlined research, trying to claim that it's not credible and that the only true information comes from a library, or a tangible book. I think this is because they had to do so much work to accomplish what they did. Now they look at these younger generations as being spoon fed and can not help but feel jealous.
ReplyDeleteThe world certainly is changing, and it becomes easier and easier to be smart than those who have come before. But that's just the way it goes. The old pave the way for the young. And in doing so, they render themselves obsolete.
Louis Armstrong sang, in "What a Wonderful World:"
"I see babies cry. I watch em grow. They'll learn much more than I'll ever know."
And then he thinks to himself, "what a wonderful world."
Let me revamp the Louis Armstrong idea.
ReplyDeleteIn his day, he understood more about jazz than any other swinging cat. Then youngsters streamlined his ideas (since they only had to learn and not create) and then expanded upon them. Dizzy G. and Charlie "Bird" turned it into Bebop and turned old Louis into yesterday's news.
Then Miles Davis did the same thing, taking bebop a step further. Then Coltrane took Giant Steps and jazz was something it had never been before. A world that Louis could never have dreamed of.
I don't want to babble. I just want to point out the tendencies of evolution, regardless of whatever realm you're exploring. Somehow it's creativity that makes genius. Not your ability to synthesize what others have done before you. And in every past that has been outdone technically, the patterns of the original concepts remain respected and only comparable to new patterns that stimulate the same imitations.
From my experience as a library employee, using online databases are by far much easier than looking for dozens of books to conduct research. This development in technology has greatly benefited students and others in finding information. When dealing with the books you may not always be able to get exactly what you want when you want it, thus creating a large inconvenience for those who are trying to complete their task. Using these databases are faster, accurate, and can really assist in the progression of work.
ReplyDeleteTechnology is advancing at the speed of light with new advances every day. I remember when I was in middle school and had to write a research paper on a particular topic. It was extremely difficult since I needed to look up books in the library for my particular topic. Now it is much easier especially for writing the position papers. Most all information can be found on the Web or at the library. However there are some issues regarding the internet as a source because sometimes they are not reliable such as wikipedia for example. Some professors even require the use of only a few internet sources and would still prefer text.
ReplyDeleteI think it is great that research is becoming much easier to obtain thanks to online databases. It saves time and gives you a lot more information to choose from. I don't think the dissertation should change because technology has advanced. If anything I believe the dissertations will be better and much more up to date. I couldn't image not having online databases. Searching through the library is such a hassle compared to finding your information online. I agree with what someone said above about it almost encouraging laziness. I remember freshman year when I had to write a research paper and was not allowed to use the internet. I procrastinated like I normally and do and was stuck writing the paper the night before. Unfortunately for me it was an awful paper because I didn't have the time to find the proper research because I waited until the last minute.
ReplyDelete