According to Simeon Preston, ‘the biggest part of our digital transformation is changing the way we think.’ Digital transformation not only changes our thinking patterns but also greatly changes the means of academic research. With the advent of technology (internet, Google, laptops, and digital libraries), the traditional ways of research (consulting libraries, buying or borrowing books, and notes taking from experts) no more remain in practice. Thus, this article will briefly discuss the world of research before the internet, current practices to conduct research without the internet, and the ways of avoiding Google search in the twenty-first century.

1. How Did People Conduct Research Before The Internet?

Before the internet, the research was limited only to classrooms and on-campus libraries. The books, journals, and printed thesis of passed out students were the only means to survey the literature for research. The book screening and reviewing the table of contexts were the techniques that helped the researcher to locate the most relevant piece of information for research.

At that time, the supervisor assigned someone a topic of research; students started searching for relevant pieces of information to conduct their research. The first place where the students usually went after getting the research topic was ‘the library’. Sometimes, they could not find the book of their interest at their central campus library. In this case, the public library, no matter how far from the college or student’s residences, was the only option left behind. Consulting libraries that are full of thousands of books for only writing three pages for research was quite daunting. No doubt, the words, and phrases in these books were quite similar to what we now search for on the internet or web pages. But these works never moved around; thus, the research through the book was quite a boring process for the majority of students.

In the past, the libraries were closed after a short period of time. Thus, the students also had to align their research timing according to the library’s schedule. Without the internet, students could not conduct 24/7 research as a student of the 21^st century has benefits. The overstuffing and selection of dozen of the most relevant books to a research topic did not only make the research a lengthy process, but the proper organization of facts collected from so diverse sources was also hard to manage. Sometimes, reading so much information that did not relevant to a researcher’s interest distracted him from the prime focus of research and led to the false or irrelevant interpretation of fact.

Other than books, magazines, news, and class lectures were also the ways that people used to conduct research before the internet. Reviewing 500 pages sometimes provided only a few paragraphs relevant to the research. The personal views and critical examination of these facts were techniques to complete research work at that time. Hence, before the internet, the era of research was full of difficulties and required lots of resources (time, energy, and money).

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   How Can You Do Research Without The Internet?

Searching for material without using the internet is no doubt a time-consuming process. The books in the libraries, the scientific magazines, a well-reputed researcher’s speech, and academic discussions with the experts are the means that you can use in research without the internet. Apart from all, dissertation copies of seniors, as well as copies of the experts of dissertation writing services submitted to libraries and public records, are also some sources that one can use in research.

How Can I Research Without Using Google?

In the twenty-first century, whenever you ask someone to tell about the Ukraine- Russia war consequences or the latest advancements in information processing (DVD and Blue-Ray) in laser technology, the first tool that will be used to explore these concepts is the Google search engine. In the current era, many of us even cannot imagine conducting research without Google. So this section will be exciting for all of you as it discusses the six most important ways that can help in research without Google.

1. You Can Use A Google Alternatives

Google, no doubt, is the most popular search engine that one can use for conducting research. However, it does not have everything. Thus, using an alternative like Dogpile DuckDuckGo, and WebCrawler can also help you in conducting research without Google. Their different algorithms often result in better search results as compared to Google.

1. You Can Use Social Media Channels To Gather Information

As far as credible sources of information are concerned, social media channels are not part of these lists. But a right post by a scholarly person can be part of your research. Even you can also use the advanced search features of Facebook and Twitter to research past posts and stay connected with the scholars.

1. You Can Use New Reporting And Annual Reports For Research

The reports, newspapers, and magazines are a bit difficult to review as they lack ctrl+F search features. Even before the internet, people used the public record as they were full of information. Thus, public records, newspapers, and annual reports are good substitutes for Google.

1. You Can Contact The Field Experts

Discussion with field experts is even more fruitful than reviewing a dozen pieces of literature. It opens new doors of knowledge and helps students develop a better understanding of a topic of interest.

1. You Can Use Academic Records

Academic records and Journals are better in providing the subject-special information as compared to Google. The academic journals and databases have more in-depth knowledge, even for your doctorate-level research.

1. You Can Use Libraries For Research

There are many sources available at Google that match your research interests. A few of them are paid content, or you need special permission to access sensitive data. Thus, libraries are the places where you can search for data without paying too many fees. Libraries are good places to read and research that involve more degree of researcher’s involvement than Google.

Research without the internet is difficult to manage these days. Today’s research quality standards are too high compared to the past. Thus, without the internet, the search for the most authentic source and the creation of multi-source bibliography is difficult to manage, especially for students.