{"id":4053,"date":"2011-09-02T15:47:56","date_gmt":"2011-09-02T19:47:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sidebarforplaintiffs.naomifein.net\/?p=4053"},"modified":"2011-09-03T17:41:29","modified_gmt":"2011-09-03T21:41:29","slug":"preliminary-investigation-the-internet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sidebarforplaintiffs.naomifein.net\/?p=4053","title":{"rendered":"Preliminary Investigation: The Internet"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is a thorny undertaking\u2013more than it looks\u2013to follow so roaming a course as that of [the Internet’s], to penetrate its dark depths and its inner recesses, to pick out and pin down the innumerable characteristics of its motions. \u2013 Montaigne, On practice<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Ah, the Internet. I am not a great fan of using it for research. It\u2019s haphazard and time-consuming; you may wind up with what you\u2019re looking for, you may not, you may skid off on a tangent and forget your task. (Ah-ha! I got you there, didn’t I? How did I get so smart about human behavior? By behaving humanly myself.)<\/p>\n

As a research tool, the Internet is essentially the Mother of All MOPS (you remember: MOP = mess of papers). When you search the Internet you\u2019ve wandered into a gargantuan room in which MOPS are piled everywhere, reaching to the ceiling, spilling over onto the floor. Yes, some of the MOPS have hand-written signs describing what\u2019s in that MOP \u2013 if you can find and read the sign (it may have fallen off the pile) \u2013 but there is no map to the room and no system of exploration. No human being, a\/k\/a librarian, to give you direction.<\/p>\n

And when you do find what seems like a useful MOP, you won\u2019t know whether it\u2019s authoritative, a lawyer\u2019s disguised advertisement or just some semi-psychotic jerk\u2019s rant.<\/p>\n

Sitting at a computer is not good physical exercise, either. But if you must surf the web, you must. Do situps in between waves, or something. I\u2019m worried Sidebar<\/strong><\/em> could cause your limbs to wither away. I\u2019ll be sitting here imagining you all getting weaker and weaker …<\/p>\n

So I\u2019ve done some thinking and digging around. Coming up: what I suggest on incorporating the web into your research.<\/p>\n

P.S. Montaigne didn’t actually mention the Internet. He was referring to the human mind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is a thorny undertaking\u2013more than it looks\u2013to follow so roaming a course as that of [the Internet’s], to penetrate its dark depths and its inner recesses, to pick out and pin down the innumerable characteristics of its motions. \u2013 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1175],"tags":[409],"class_list":["post-4053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-facts-of-life","tag-internet-investigation"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t