Data, Data, Everywhere and Not a Thought to Think

I gave the speech over fifteen years ago, when the amount of online information was not what it was today. It was clear then we were headed to a day when access to data would be significantly less restricted by geography and other physical constraints. The title, or the final remark at the end of the speech, I can’t remember which, was “data, data, everywhere and not a thought to think.”

The essential point of the speech is just as true today as it was then: access to data does not make us better researchers. Use of technology, in and of itself, does not make us better researchers either. There are some who are convinced that it does. Research and analysis is more than larger amounts of data and faster computers. More information coupled with technology does not guarantee higher quality research. A fancier calculator will not, by itself, bring every student to the same level of skill and understanding.

More data and better tools can make good researchers better and allow them to operate faster when they are less bound by physical limitations and time constraints.  These tools can also make sloppy researchers sloppier and better equipped to spread their slop around.

Sometimes the more information to which we have access, the more difficult it is to research–at least in some cases–as there is more chaff to separate out from the wheat. There are times where much of the supposedly new information is not really new at all, but instead is a rehashing of information or compilations and conclusions from other sources. And there are times where sorting through the research of others is an exercise in trying to understand their madness, a slippery slope that some of us would rather not travel down.

There is the mindset in some circles that research is “better” if it is conducted using the most recent software available and if it is published using all the bells whistles that modern technology has to offer. That’s not true at all. Good research can be done and conclusions written without using the more recent software and genealogical database management there is. In some circles there is the mindset that it’s not good if you aren’t using the most up-to-date everything.

That’s not true and that’s not a bandwagon on which I choose to jump.

It’s not just about the data. It is also about the analysis and the interpretation. And most of the time that analysis and interpretation requires the researcher to be aware of a variety of underlying historical, cultural, legal, and other factors impacting the records and families at which they are looking.

That doesn’t change whether they are looking at a digital image, a microfilm image, or the actual record.

And analysis typed up on a manual typewriter can be just as accurate as analysis typed up on the most recent computer. Although why you’d choose to still use a manual typewriter is another matter entirely.