The Importance of Print Resources

I've got Google

I use databases

Why use print books for research?

THE VALUE OF BOOKS DEMONSTRATED:

The benefits of digital books are immediately evident

• Instant access
• In text searching
• Ease of navigation

Comprehensive research

on the works of Charles Darwin

The following article published in the South African Journal of Science (Nov/Dec2009), makes several references to the work of Charles Darwin.

The following web page which is sponsored by the University of Singapore, Arts and Humanities Reasearch Council and the University of Cambridge offers access to a digital copy of Darwin's book the Origin of Species.

Scholarly Reading

Considered:

DIGITAL

vs.

PRINT

Benefits

Using the digital version of Darwin's book has several benefits which are immediately evident. These include:

• Access
• Navigation
• Searchability

Drawbacks

• Ease of navigation means more distration. Each page has to compete with hundreds of millions of other pages for the user's attention.

• Computer screens are harder on the eyes than the paper page is. Users generally read 25 percent more slowly when reading from a computer screen.

• The digital medium is better suited to scanning than reading. Users move between many pages selecting relevant pieces from each. This results in shallower, less focused reading.

Print vs. Digital: The Final Word

Digital resources are a valuable resource for learners engaged in research in the 21st century.

It is important to remember however, that the term scholarship implies deep reading. For the time being at least, print resources remain better suited to this purpose.

Good researchers recognize the distinct advantages associated with different information formats. While scholar may use digital resources for certain purposes, print resources continue to play a vital role in learning, research and scholarship.

This frame illustrates how users can search within the body of the digital text and navigate immediatly to the desired search term

Benefits and drawbacks considered

In many ways, the authority and integrity of this article depends on the assumption that the author's consultation of Darwin's work has been thorough, thoughtful and comprehensive.

Put plainly, we expect that the the author of this article read the whole of Darwin's book.

Now take a moment to consider the following questions?

• How would you feel about the scholarly value of this article if you discovered that the author had consulted a digital rather than print version of Darwin's "The Origin of Species?"

• What are the benefits and drawback of print and digital books?

WHAT STUDENTS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT BOOKS

• "more reputable,"

• "more reliable" and "balanced,"

• "give more basic and well established facts,"

• "give a thorough analysis of the specific topic,"

• "Supply good general overviews of topics and offer good background information that is often needed before the more detailed journal articles can be understood and used effectively."

Dilevko, Juris, and Lisa Gottlieb. "Print Sources in an Electronic Age: A Vital Part of the Research Process for Undergraduate Students." Journal of Academic Librarianship 28, no. 6 (January 1, 2002): 381-92. ERIC, EBSCOhost (accessed July 29, 2010).

The Importance of Print Resources

• Print resources give "good historical perspective on current trends" by including "in-depth" and "comprehensive" material, with the result that they are "usually better at explaining concepts more clearly, whereas in journals only a short explanation will be provided."

• In addition, because "material in electronic journal articles is [typically] based on theory that has been most extensively described in a book," books are necessary to "discuss theoretical foundations" of many topics. Books, because of their historical and contextual scope, are invaluable generators of ideas--ideas that can then be investigated in greater detail through academic journal literature. If the order is reversed--if the study of journal literature comes before reading books--undergraduates may often be overwhelmed by the level of technical detail in journals and risk missing the forest for the trees.

• In general, books offer "focus" because "a lot of the time there is too much information online that is irrelevant." While "electronic resources offer breadth" and many "specific/technical details," books are much better at giving "substantive details" and the type of "pertinent general information" necessary to put such specific technical details into a broader intellectual context.

Dilevko, Juris, and Lisa Gottlieb. "Print Sources in an Electronic Age: A Vital Part of the Research Process for Undergraduate Students." Journal of Academic Librarianship 28, no. 6 (January 1, 2002): 381-92. ERIC, EBSCOhost (accessed July 29, 2010).