Internet research
Internet research is the practice of using the Internet for research. To the extent that the Internet is widely and readily accessible to hundreds of millions of people, in many parts of the world, and can provide practically instant information on most topics, it is has a profound impact on the way in which ideas are formed and knowledge is created.Research is a broad term. Here, it is used loosely to include any activity where a topic is identified, and an effort is made to actively gather information for the purpose of furthering understanding (no matter how trivial-seeming the subject).
Prior to the Internet, and particularly, the World Wide Web, print - books, magazines, newspapers, and other printed publications - was the primary source of in-depth information in the most of the world. In print, the book is the basic research unit. Consulting several books on a topic, and related subjects, was the usual research method for most people.
Compared to the Internet, print physically limits access to information. A book has to be identified, then actually obtained. On the Net, the Web can be searched, and typically hundreds or thousands of documents can be found on a topic, within seconds. In addition, email (including mailing lists), online discussion forums (aka message boards, BBS's), and other personal communication facilities (instant messaging, IRC, newsgroups, etc) provide direct access to experts and other individuals with relevant interests and knowledge.
As the Internet continues to expand, Internet research could - seems likely to - become the predominant mode of informing ourselves. More people will form ideas based on what they believe is their active "research" ("looking it up", "reading up about it"), rather than more-or-less passively (environmentally) acquired information (the daily news, "someone told me about", "saw an article on").
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