Online Databases and I…a love story

September 27, 2009 at 4:19 pm (Uncategorized)

When you say the word Journalism many think of magazines, newspapers, and journals. Translate that into the journalistic experience online, and the same image will pop into someone’s head. However, one of the least thought about aspects, at least for me, was the scholarly journalistic writings that are now online.

It used to be that one would be assigned a research paper, and would have to spend hours in the library sorting through archives of scholarly journals. However, now one can simply log on to their University’s library page and have an abundance of information with just a few clicks.

Being someone who heavily relies on Google, I stumbled upon Google Scholar freshman year. I used it occasionally, seeing as I was an English major for most of my time here, and then I simply forgot it existed.

Coming from the generation that uses the Internet and computer for everything, I was stunned when my boyfriend remarked that he had to go to the library to research for a paper. Seeing as he is going back to school after being out of the college scene for years, it dawned on me that he had no idea about the abundance of online journalism sources that the Internet provides.

Although I would consider myself savvy when it comes to the Internet and basic technology, I never realized what I could truly do with the online journalism sources that were available to me. So I took it upon myself to use EBSCO, a database provided through the University at Albany’s library, and I weasled my way into my boyfriend’s research paper.

The paper was on ethics in business management, and so I began my search with “ethics”, a word I figured would bring up a few scholarly journals. My one tiny word produced thousands of articles. Needless to say, I was overwhelmed. So I narrowed down my search and finally found a decent amount of articles on the subject that I was interested in.

Clicking through these articles I realized that I would never have read any of these had I not searched for them on the Internet database. Many of them were from other Universities, countries, and states. I would not of had access to these had I not been able to find them online.

My experience truly enforced how important and essential online Journalism truly is. One can get their work or name out into the public’s eye by solely publishing online. Many writers who may have only written in their specific subject and in their specific area are now known in places and fields where they were unknown before.

Online journalism in terms of databases and research has truly impacted the way we consume information. Instead of there being a wall between you and the information where you would have to search and thumb through journals, now you can find what you’re looking for with just the click of a mouse. Online journalism has truly made information more accessible, which in turn has allowed various journalist’s to be able to make a name for themselves when they could not previously.