When I do research for my books I'm very old school: I go to libraries, bookstores, museums, I interview experts, I visit the places I write about. When I go on the internet I go on Amazon.com, but that's just to find more books. And I go on museum websites, but only to find out when they're open.
The kids I talk to
about research used to be old school, too, at least in the classroom. They're not any more. Kids now do all their research on the internet. Period.Me, I've never quite trusted the internet. Because I'm so grounded in books, libraries, museums, etc., internet information seems somehow untethered, invalid, unreal to me. I'm not even comfortable with websites whose url ends in .edu.
Am I missing something? It's possible, and before the 21st century gets any older, I need to make an open-minded, whole-hearted effort to find out.
Here's the plan.
I'm starting a book about the Erie Canal this week, and I'm going to do ALL the research on the internet.
Why?
To satisfy my curiosity: what's out there in cyberspace? is it any good?
For the challenge: I've never been skillful at navigating the internet—will I be able to do it?
To get out of my comfort zone: there's nothing more exciting/disturbing than the possibility that the habits and assumptions of a lifetime will be overturned.
On to the 21st Century!
