Both the Hunt library and Google are significant resources for information. The world of online connectivity has enabled us to have access to almost instantaneous information at any given point in time. That information even extends to handheld devices like phones and tablets. If I'd like to have access to a variety of delicious recipes or directions to a new destination Google is a great resource. Even if I am looking up basic information on subjects that I am interested in, there are a variety of websites for any given inclination.
The question then becomes, why do we even have resources like the Hunt Library in an age of Google and Wikipedia? The answer is simple. You can't tell if the sources you are getting from Google are trustworthy. If I were to look up a variety of information online the sources I would have access to could range from online encyclopedias to blogs to wiki answer sites. Most of these are not scholarly resources.
The Hunt Library has a variety or ways of searching information online. These include books, articles, videos and a tab for research help. Using the Hunt Library online gives you access to thousands of books and articles instantly. Sometimes as humans we tend to mimic water flow. We like to follow the easiest route possible. Sometimes we like to think this means using resources like Google or Yahoo. Unfortunately this means that often the information we are privileged to isn't from scholarly sources. When doing research it is imperative that we use information that has been proven, researched and tested.
The Hunt Library allows you to search for information from a number of different sources. When needing to search these sources you can search the databases by subject also. When you search the term "leadership concept" on the Hunt Library it gives you 299,757 possibilities. You can narrow this down more by refining your search. This can be done in any number of ways from subject term to content type to publication date to language. After three simple clicks I can narrow the possibilities all the way to 12,760. Once I narrow the publication date and articles that have been peer reviewed it brings the possibilities down to just over 1,000. This may sound like a lot but when compared to the almost 300,000 listed before it has been reduced significantly. In reality this is a simple and effective way to find scholarly information that can be used for research and paper writing.
When comparing the usefulness of the Hunt Library to that of a source like Google it seems like there is no contest. When searching for useful, scholarly information the Hunt Library is by far the best and most effective source.
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