by Sylvia Harrison

Created on: February 06, 2010

Should students be required to use real books in research papers?

Research papers do play a huge role in educating our children about the world around them and how to, using several different sources, gain information on various subjects.  Research is extremely important in a great many future endeavors in order to "see all sides" of an issue or gain as much information as possible about an issue.  This will not change.  The future of our race is inevitably moving forward due to research of one kind or another.  History of a subject helps to show us about that subject and gives us ideas for our own future use.

The opportunities of books as a portion of a bibliography for a research paper is still a good thing.  The actual book itself, though, may not be necessary, whether required or not.  The Internet is an amazing thing.  It is a part of new technologies of the last 30 years which has expanded beyond anything many of us over the age of 45 ever truly expected or could imagine.  Within that Internet system our children can "dig" and find nearly anything.  That includes book reviews, chapter by chapter, of nearly every book ever written.  

Personally, this author still loves to read (real books that is).  In our fast-paced society it is still a wonderful feeling to "curl up with a good book" and, maybe, a cup of tea!  Our younger generation does not always like to read from pages of a book.  However, many of those young people spend an inordinate amount of time reading on the Internet.  (Whether actual books, articles, game instructions, etc.)  It is a good thing to recommend reading real books to our students doing research papers.  To require it is trying to fool ourselves.  These young people know their way around the Internet and will say they have read, or used, a book for research papers when it was never truly in their hands.  Either way you look at it, though, the book was actually perused in one way or another.

Technology is so fascinating.  Research through the Internet gives us many different views of many different subjects.  Instead of trying to focus on the way we were taught to do research papers (IE:  books, magazines, newspaper articles, etc.), perhaps we should acknowledge that, yes, those items can usually be found on the Internet also.  Instead of requiring actual substance materials such as books, magazines, and newspapers, perhaps

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>