Online sources in research papers

There is a great post over on Fred Wilson's blog about his daughter running into some problems with using online sources for her papers. I love this part:

So The Gotham Gal told the school principal that she thought the "no Internet only bibliographies policy" was wrong. He came back with a very thoughtful response. He said the "instant gratification" (my words not his) of internet research was leading to "cut and paste" (again my words not his) reports and the reason he wants kids to use offline resources is that it forces them to take time and think and construct real reports.

Now that's a great point. He's right about that. I see it in Jessica's work to be honest. It's good, but it does feel a little manufactured.

I even saw that in some of my own work as using online sources became more acceptable at Seattle Pacific. I had to make a conscious effort to use offline materials in order to shore up the quality.


A VC: Internet Only Bibliography?