Interview with the Author: Dr. B. Chernow on Going Beyond the Internet

Recently, I was able to interview Dr. Barbara Chernow, the author of Beyond the Internet: Successful Research Strategies. This book is useful for special librarians because it reminds us of the importance of different ways of researching—something special librarians know a lot about.

The book provides useful language for special librarians who are speaking with patrons about the importance of searching in locations other than the internet for information.

Please introduce yourself to our readers.

I hold a PhD in American history from Columbia University and am a career encyclopedist, researcher, reference book editor, and producer of books for professional publishers. I began my career as associate editor of The Papers of Alexander Hamilton and was editor in chief of the fifth edition of the Columbia Encyclopedia. I am the author of Robert Morris: Land Speculator, coeditor of the Datapedia of the United States: American History in Numbers, and a contributor to journals and books, including the Encyclopedia of New York City. I have taught the editing of science, technology, and medicine at New York University, and business writing and communications at Parsons The New School. My presentations on the history of the Hamilton Project were delivered at the Museum of American Finance and Fraunces Tavern.

Briefly summarize Beyond the Internet: Successful Research Strategies.

Beyond the Internet exposes the myth that the Internet is a complete and accurate research resource. The message for researchers, librarians, teachers, parents, and students is simple. Although the scope and range of material on the Internet is impressive, much material in libraries and archives is not yet digitized. This includes documents and correspondence, government records, and holdings in private collections. In addition, researchers should appreciate the benefits of interviews and on-site visits. These sources provide the threads that link our past to our present.

The book also emphasizes the difference between acquiring facts that answer a specific question and the process of analytical thinking that goes into assessing a subject. Serendipitous finds and new interpretations based on previously unknown sources require research in original materials. I use challenges culled from my own work to illustrate the different resources described. These anecdotes lend a personal element to the highly practical advice contained in the chapters. Each chapter describes a specific resource, provides relevant case studies, and offers tips and techniques for using that resource. Thus, the issue is not what you cannot find on the Internet, but what you miss if you only consult the Internet.

What is new in the second edition?

This updated edition explores how the Internet has become an even more compromised tool by enabling artificial intelligence and social media to manipulate information, particularly in the social sciences and humanities. This book examines the need to pursue traditional research techniques and how to use them to validate information found on the Internet. If you want to research such topics as the origins of terrorism, the complicated background to hostilities in the Middle East, the increasing polarization in U.S. politics, or the decline in basic reading and math skills, you need to consult original materials. Students should learn what sources are available and how to use them so they can make informed decisions about everything from personal health to foreign policy.

Why did you decide to write this book?

In the early 2000s, I gave the first of several presentations at Baruch College, City University of New York, on research techniques. At first, I thought of it as a nostalgic exercise. However, the more I prepared by reviewing my research findings, the more I realized how unfamiliar students now were with traditional techniques and sources—and the hidden treasures these sources contained. Most of my findings could still not be found on the Internet. College courses on research materials and introductory tours of libraries now focused on the Internet and databases, while often minimizing discussions of primary and non-electronic materials. I wrote this book to reawaken awareness of the value of these sources and to show that although electronic sources may provide serious researchers with helpful leads and answer specific questions, traditional sources are often the ones that result in unexpected finds and meaningful analysis.

How can librarians use the information in the book to support library users? What should librarians do to encourage the use of non-digitized sources?

Beyond the Internet is a personal journey that shows how one researcher’s findings and techniques continue to have relevance in the world of the Internet and Artificial Intelligence. Each of the chapters contains a section on tips and techniques for using the resource described. Librarians should use these and their own experiences to respond to user questions and teach methods and materials courses. Assign class projects that cannot be resolved using just electronic resources. Ask students to compare information on specific subjects and people that they find online with information found in primary sources. AI, particularly in the social sciences, is often limited in the sources it consults, provides blatantly incorrect information, and fails to indicate its sources. Ask students to use AI to prepare the answer to a question and then check it against traditional sources. The Internet and AI cannot replace an experienced librarian.

Is there anything else you would like to share?

This book presents my philosophy of research. In the first edition, published in 2007, I concluded that the issue was not what you could not find on the Internet, but what you missed or misinterpreted if you only consulted the Internet. Serendipitous finds and new interpretations based on previously unknown and validated sources will always require research in original materials. That conclusion now needs to be expanded because the best way to validate what you find on the Internet is to consult traditional resources. We have indeed come full circle. Whatever your interests, you need to diversify your approach and go Beyond the Internet.