How Research Has Changed

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Lifestyle

I grew up with an encyclopedia proudly displayed on the shelves in our den.  The World Book – it was olive green with navy blue borders.   When a homework assignment needed some information, we turned right to the encyclopedia.

 

During law school, we learned computerized legal research.  Yes, learned.  Special classes – dedicated terminals.  Any lawyers out there remember the Lexis machine with the chiclet keys?  A small red terminal?  At my first law firm the machine had its own separate tiny room.

 

When I first arrived at Klein Zelman and for many years, if we needed deep research we used a pass to go to the NYC Bar Association. I have to admit, I have always loved the peace of a library setting.  The unanimity of quiet felt like a real live community all rowing in the same direction.

 

Fast forward – these days, when I need to look something up, I don’t even need to stand.  Between the research platforms I have access to and just plain Mr. Google, almost any bit of information is at my fingertips.  I know how to find articles about something new in my world, maybe a new law or a new case – but then I know how to dig deep and find the source.

 

I know our current resources are mind boggling and efficient. But the truth is that I miss that little red Lexis machine with the chiclet keys.

Comments

Daniel Schwartz

We had the World Book encyclopedia as well on our bookcase, with the annual Yearbooks lined up. My son has no clue about what that was. Great memory and discipline to look information up.
Rosalia Ruberto

I remember what our first set of encyclopedias looked like but, not the name. I do remember research being limited to the small amount of information found on the topic. I would have to follow up with a trip to the library to check out some other body of work on the subject for additional sources. Technology has certainly made research more efficient.
Shelley Simpson

What I miss most - actually the only thing I miss from doing research in books - is learning things along the way to what I was looking for since we can zero in on what we want rather than searching through indices and getting distracted by something of interest.
Rich Slomovitz

And we’d have to go through card catalogs at the library to find the books we needed and use microfiche readers to view old newspaper articles. Information we can find now as quick as snapping our fingers - as long as the article we want to read isn't behind a paywall.
Robert Intelisano

Good stuff Nancy! I remember the encyclopedia Britannica. Things have certainly changed quickly

Submitted by Susan_Meyer on Tue, 02/27/2024 - 03:24

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Susan Meyer

I'm with Shelley on this. On any research project that I had, a few decades ago (including my dissertation and a few publications), some of my best discoveries came from literally or digitally thumbing through journals and other publications. I miss that hands-on feel.
David Abeshouse

I remember having the full set of World Book encyclopedia in my room when I was a child. I gave myself the assignment of first reading the entire Webster's dictionary, and once I finished that, I embarked on the encyclopedia set -- I made it from "A" to somewhere around "M" before I figured I'd learned enough.... ;^)
Victoria Drogin

Yes! World book. And then it was on discs! Soon it will be embedded in our brains. lol

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