Today, I will be writing about something that interests not just freelance writers but all writers. It’s about Internet research, that has radically altered the way we write, and what we write. We have become so dependent on the Internet for research that any other research method seems ante-diluvian– well, almost. In fact, ask non fiction writers and most of them would say that try as they might, they cannot overcome the strong sense of disconnect they experience towards core research done any other wayl And the fact that the biggest libraries have gone in for large scale digitization of books, with their content transferred to CDs and to websites, is doing very little to help.
On the other hand, have you noticed how we have many more non fiction writers today after the advent of the Internet? Not all of them are into the profession of writing, fulltime. Many are professionals in other fields, writing because they like to write, to share their knowledge. And driving their urge to write is the convenience factor, the facility to do all or most of their research on authentic websites on the Internet. Which is a good thing, because our knowledge-oriented society is seeing an explosion in its knowledge resources on the strength of this growing body of literature.
Today, I have merely introduced the concept of Internet research. I want you to write about it in these forums that are your own forums—do you think the Internet has changed the way we research, and if so, in what way? Is it all a positive impact, or, are there negative sides to internet research, also? I will be expecting your comments after which I‘ll add to them. This way, through debates and brainstorming, we can create a virtual, intellectual coffee house-like discussion forum, which non members would one day want to give an arm and a leg for, to visit.
Related posts:
- The Internet Writing Workshop Website Profile
- The Internet and the WWW–A Writer’s Best Friends!
- A Freelance Writer’s Tools on the Internet
- Internet Censorship and the Indian Freelance Writer
- Internet Censorship and the Indian Freelance Writer
Comments:
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I think there is a charm in digging through old books in a library for research material. That being said, the internet is the way we transact through everything – including our research material for writing. Like you mentioned, digitization of books has made this all the more convenient and personally, I believe this trend helps us move forward through technology. At the end of the day, research needs to be available, easily searchable and convenient to leverage so as to raise our individual productivities as writers and the internet accomplishes that aspect perfectly!
The advent of the internet has definitely opened up windows of opportunity for writers from access to material that is just a click away to getting their writing more visibility. The internet has been a big boon to writers around the world.