Google Scholar Makes Research Easier

Since 1996 Google has risen to be one of the top used websites in the world. A large percentage of people now use Google for all their searching needs.

Along the way Google has added different versions of Google that have become very helpful. There is Googlepedia, which will allow you to easily search for something on Wikipedia. Google Finance allows someone to search business headlines. There is even a Google Labs that demonstrates other Google projects.

Google has also created a great site called Google Scholar. Simply put Google Scholar allows someone to search for a subject and only receive scholarly literature in return. No longer do you have to search for something, go to a website created by someone named CenaRulz and wonder, "is this accurate information?" Anything you find on the Google Scholar's site will be a legitimate resource from professors, scientists and other people way smarter than you and me.

For example if I go to Google Scholar and search for ninjas I won't get a website dedicated to ninjas flipping out and killing people. Instead I will get articles such as "The Ninjas, the X-Men, and the Ladies: Playing with Power and Identity in an Urban Primary School" from Anne Dyson of the Teachers College Record. Or I might get an article from Early Childhood Education Journal, like the article by Nancy Carlsson-Paige called "The subversion of healthy development and play: Teachers' reactions to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." Or you might find my favorite, "The Spread of Political Violence in Congo-Brazzaville" by Remy Bazenguissa-Ganga from African Affairs.

Of course this search engine is going to be especially helpful to those kids who have school papers. No more trying to convince your teacher that the information you found is legit because you can easily find legitimate resources.

The internet continues to make writing papers easier and easier. Someday people will probably be able to go to some Google site, type in their name and topic and Google will generate an entire paper for them. They'll probably call it Google Thesis or something like that. It's bad enough the internet made reading books easier by creating Spark Notes, an online version of Cliff Notes, but now they are making papers easier too.

I sure wish that writing papers were this easy when I was in school. It almost makes me want to say that I wish I were born fifteen years later than I was but then I wouldn't know about the awesomeness of the Transformers, the Labyrinth, and Kirk Cameron.