THE FUTURE:Some Learning Tips

[For Home, Library, & the World-Wide Web]

[Some of these points may be useful for some
projects, some for others. You may think of other
ways to get started with your own research.]


SERENDIPITY

Before I offer any of the
traditional research advice or definite cyber techniques,
I would advise you to play around with four or five or
more of the better search engines. Simply put in KEY WORDS,
PHRASES, PHRASES IN QUOTES, etc. [I would advise a quick
reading of the search tips, basic or advanced, that come
with many of the search engines.]

When the search results are shown, make certain to scan
through as many as five or six pages [depending on the number
of hits]. Not all interesting results are among the first
few items. "Serendipity," by nature, often precludes finding
treasures in expected places. One joy of cyberspace and search
engines is that you discover connections you previously
were unaware of.

1. First, get a broad view of your subject. Read articles in a good
GENERAL ENCYCLOPEDIA. [Remember, there are now many great encyclopedias
on CD rom. . .including BRITANNICA. These CD's are supplemented with ON-LINE extensions.]
Ordinarily, for FUTURE topics, the latest editions
are best.For some topics, say, about literature, art, or the paranormal,
the older BRITANNICA or AMERICANA might be better. Also, remember that many "New Age"
matters are old as civilization itself. And all the major religions
and many minor ones have been talking about the Apocalypse or its equivalent for ages.

2.After gettings your bearings with a general encyclopedia, look
around for a SPECIALIZED ENCYCLOPEDIA or DICTIONARY on your subject. One of the
publishing phenomena of recent years is the flowering of the
PAPERBACK ENCYCLOPEDIA on many, many topics. Take
a look in Amazon or the library.

3. If you're studying a major topic. . .either the "whole field" or
some part of it. . . look in Amazon Books or the library for
a GUIDE or SOURCEBOOK [also ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHIES
. . .many examples in my Amazon bookstore].

Go To Scholar's Page


Often you will find not only lists of relevant material but scholarly
bibliographic essays that discuss many related books and materials.
[I've included numerous guides in my bookstore. . .also some web
links to annotated bibliographies.] Don't forget ATLASES. There
are plenty out in paperback.

4.Often, especially if you're going to make a major purchase,
you'll want to get BOOK REVIEWS. The databases that have
come out in the last few years [available at many libraries] are
simply wonderful. Ask a librarian about EBESCO, PROQUEST
DIRECT, & FIRST SEARCH, to name some of the best.
Often you'll feel you have a whole library at your fingertips.
What will amaze you [it did me] is the breadth & depth of the
coverage. You will find excellent reviews of books, both scholarly
and popular. You won't have to be satisfied with short excerpts
find complete reviews. For that matter, some of the databases
contain
FULL TEXTS of magazine and journal articles. . . often from
the late 80 to the present. [I notice that with EBESCO, one
either print out OR even send the results to his/her email address!
Now, that's service.]

5. Let's suppose you don't have access to these databases, even
the standard ones that have been around a while. Don't despair.
All those easily usable PRINTED INDEXES are still around. And
sometimes printed indexes can be as fast or faster than electronic
retrieval devices. Don't sell print short. My bookstore attests to my
own faith that printed works are still the grand core of knowledge.
I don't believe you'll find many scholars, at least in most fields, who
would say the WWW is final stopping point in research. Often the
web leads one to printed knowledge rather than supplies it full-blown.
Indiana University has a brilliantly lucid page on all the printed
research tools [plus some electronic tools] to help you find the best book reviews. Please
click here:

Book Reviews--General and Interdisciplinary Sources

Go To Book Reviews

6. For more BOOK REVIEWS there are many web sources as well.
Go to the online NEW YORK TIMES, BOSTON GLOBE, BOOKLIST,
and many others. Here is the result from one search engine:

Go To Infoseek BOOK REVIEW

When you go to amazon.com after clicking on a specific title,
often you'll find several book reviews there. . .no searching.
Some of these reviews may be short and impressionistic, but
you'll find many insights by readers who are not professionals.
What's more. AMAZON invites its buyers and readers to write
their own reviews. If you've never written a serious book review,
you'll soon realize that it is a great learning experience for you
as well as your potential readers.

7. The World-Wide Web has much to offer on any topic if
you do a little searching. Use your favorite search engines to
find WEB PAGES devoted to particular topics and individuals.
[I found, for example, a web page on Isaac Asimov. . .the
coverage of every aspect of his work, plus leads into SF in general,
was unbelievable. Take a look. This Asimov page is like an ELECTRONIC GUIDEBOOK:

Click Here!

There are many "labors of love" everywhere on the web.
Before you decide to start a web page on a given topic,
make certain someone else hasn't spent the last five years on the same one.
Knowledge to be shared. . . it's everywhere to be discovered.

8. As you learn more about the web and web tools, you'll
eventually want to look into FTP [FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL].
There are many FTP programs to be downloaded FREE on the web.
Here is a free program, one of the best available:

Click Here!


Once you catch on to a few tricks,
you'll find yourself retrieving megabytes of valuable information from all over.
And if and when you start your own website, you'll find that FTP
is the way to go with uploading files as well.

9. I won't go on for now. . . just one last point if you're setting
out to explore one or more topics on THE FUTURE. Join and participate
in a USE GROUP or NEWSGROUP. Here's an ASTRONOMY page with many links,
including one or more to discussion groups:

Go To Astronomy Site

This is one example out of hundreds & hundreds. Put your favorite
topic +newsgroup in a search engine. Soon you'll
be talking to experts and people with your interests.
While you're getting your bearings,
perhaps you'll want to remain passive and just soak in the knowledge that
characterizes the best of newsgroup participants.
Remember that some members of discussion groups are
worldwide experts. . .often the writers of major books in their field.
You'll often be pleasantly surprised how the best scholars are anxious
to share their insights with those who are just learning. The more
you learn, though, it won't be long until
you're sending in your questions, even offering your own deductions and experiences.
One could argue that the interplay of minds is the greatest gift of the World-Wide Web.

MAX

P.S. After I finish a few more basic tasks for the bookstore, I hope to
return and polish up some of these random thoughts. I am trying to present
enough materials on many aspects of THE FUTURE so that interested readers and viewers
may find connections as yet undiscovered. This may be more
than could be reasonably expected. Nevertheless
THE BOOKSTORE OF THE FUTURE may at least give an impression of what's out there
to be reckoned with. Some of the issues,
I'm sure, we cannot afford to ignore and "leave them to the experts."