I’ve always been a big fan of desk research and in particular, the literature review.

Even in the days when it meant searching the CD-Rom database at the UNSW library (any one remember Psych-Lit?) to find the ‘literature’.

I’d scribble down the references on a scrap of paper and go, on foot, to hunt for the hard copies. These would invariably be housed up on the fifth floor, down the very end, where the heaters didn’t work in winter. But it didn’t diminish the thrill of the ‘find’.

I danced with (some might say nerd-like) delight when it became possible to access the library catalogue via the internet (albeit in the early days, you could still only get information on the item’s location, not the actual item – but it was still exciting!).

Things have changed considerably since then.

From the way we source information, to the type of information we end up with. All changed.

But importantly, it’s not just the content that’s changed, it’s probably also the quality.

Why? Because some information is (a lot!) easier to get than other information.

I sometimes wonder whether we’re too quick to stop at the easy-to-get-to stuff.

Do we know when and how to dig further for better information?

Are we teaching the next generation of researchers how to do this?

A skill worth honing

Being able to weave a literature review together is a skill worth learning and/or a skill worth honing, particularly for researchers.

Beyond the likelihood of increasing the quality of information one ends up with, the process can be enormously enlightening.

It provides a feel for the breadth, and often surprising depth, of knowledge around any particular subject; inspiring and humbling at the same time.

It provides exposure to confronting, yet compelling views, often contrary to one’s own.

It’s a way of learning what wheat looks like vs chaff.

More context. Better information. Better research.

Are you measuring what you think you’re measuring?