ERIC Number: EJ828274
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007-Jun
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0304-3797
EISSN: N/A
Impact of Commercial Search Engines and International Databases on Engineering Teaching and Research
Chanson, Hubert
European Journal of Engineering Education, v32 n3 p261-269 Jun 2007
For the last three decades, the engineering higher education and professional environments have been completely transformed by the "electronic/digital information revolution" that has included the introduction of personal computer, the development of email and world wide web, and broadband Internet connections at home. Herein the writer compares the performances of several digital tools with traditional library resources. While new specialised search engines and open access digital repositories may fill a gap between conventional search engines and traditional references, these should be not be confused with real libraries and international scientific databases that encompass textbooks and peer-reviewed scholarly works. An absence of listing in some Internet search listings, databases and repositories is not an indication of standing. Researchers, engineers and academics should remember these key differences in assessing the quality of bibliographic "research" based solely upon Internet searches. (Contains 2 tables and 3 figures.)
Descriptors: Engineering Education, Higher Education, Educational Change, Information Technology, Search Engines, Engineering, Databases, Internet, Information Retrieval, Bibliographic Databases, Access to Information, Navigation (Information Systems), Reference Materials, Textbooks, Comparative Analysis
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A