Subject: Re: More Research Required
Posted By: Whitey
Date: February 22, 1999 at 14:08:21
In Response to: More Research Required - posted by William L. Rukeyser on February 22, 1999 at 13:32:18
> Another point... one of the benefits of extended attention span and an inquistive mind is learning through serendipity... looking for one thing and finding something else (perhaps more important.)
> At some point in the future search engines may master fuzzy logic so well that they can approximate what we do now.
> For the present... a fundimental (but not obvious) limit to on-line research is that we're often limited to searching for that which we already know we want.
I'm a little perplexed by what you're saying about the lack of serendipty online. It seems like I often face as much, if not more, serendipity online than elsewhere. I never know what my search will find me -- maybe I'm not as adept at searching as you are and so have not refined it so that I only get those Web sites that specifically relate to what I INTENDED to get.
What's more I always have to post notes on the monitor so that I can remember what I started out to find! If that's not evidence of serendipity, I don't know what is. Every time I log on, I learn something new and unexpected.
Finally, don't we only search for something specific?
Please clarify what you're saying here.
Thanks!
