The Language of Research 

 It seems that the difficulty in learning languages isn't always restricted  to spoken words. A recent article in the New York Times ("Searching For Dummies", March 26 -  here's a link , though it's for pay now) quotes an Israeli study which demonstrates the ineptitude of graduate students in making specific Internet searches in 2002.    

 Now, I know a lot has happened in the world of search engines in the last 4 years, and I admit my bias in being an MIT undergrad at the time meant that I was waist-deep in Google and its way of sorting information. See if you can't do any of these challenges now, with no time limit: 

 "A picture of the Mona Lisa; the complete text of either "Robinson Crusoe" or "David Copperfield"; and a recipe for apple pie accompanied by a photograph." 

 What's the trick to this kind of searching? Unless you have an excellent, selective and disambiguating search engine, knowing search grammar and context is essential.   


 For example, getting the text of David Copperfield is now a three-hop, one search process: search for it on Google, and select the Wikipedia entry, which has been cleanly separated from the magician and includes not one but  three  versions. A Google search for  "David Copperfield" Dickens  gets us the full text as the first hit, showing that context improves. I have little doubt that 6 years ago, such a search would take forever without an extra bit of context, such as "Chapter 3" in order to elicit a full text. 

 So the technology has gotten better. But the illusion of control remains; I find it more difficult to find other disambiguations that Wikipedia hasn't considered. Moreover, for any meaningful searches, such as to relevant papers in particular areas where I don't know the nomenclature, this feeling of power is challenged.  

 This is a skill that permeates all levels of society, from kindergarten on up, but there's a definite lack of appreciation for it. To learn it like a language, early on and with constant practice, seems to be the solution; to learn the context, grammar and syntax of the search (and research), and to appreciate that we're trying to communicate our intentions using all the tools we have available; by blaming them, we all typify poor carpenters.