It's without doubt that whenever there is a word we don't know the meaning of, a place we cannot find or even a phrase we do not understand, our initial responses are, "just google it!" Google is now one of the most frequently visited sites in the world as there is a wealth of information that can be gathered from the search engine. From images, to news, to videos and more, google provides the searcher with almost anything he/ she is hoping to find. 
According to the editors on Computer Hope, Google was "originally known as BackRub. Google is a search engine that started development in 1996 by Sergey Brin and Larry Page as a research project at Stanford University to find files on the Internet. Larry and Sergey later decided the name of their search engine needed to change and decided upon Google, which is inspired from the term googol" (Google definition section, para 1).
However, before technology began to reach a wider audience, especially in lesser developed countries such as the Caribbean, the internet was inaccessible on several islands, making Google practically unknown. It was many years as the internet continued to developed, Google became the top used search engine in these quarters. It is therefore almost impossible to hear an answer such as Bing when someone is asked what search engine he/ she uses.
But in the days of dial-up internet connections that involved having about an hour a week for internet use or having to unplug the internet lines because your mom wanted to make a quick call, there was something far more interesting than Google - these babies were WorldBooks.
My father loved reading books and researching various forms of information; this later led him to start creating his own personal library. My mother, on the other hand, once shared that at one point in her life, she loved reading novel. That great love for reading passed on to my sister who, to this day, still loves reading books; that however, did not seem to pass along to me. I was never an avid reader as a child but there was something quite intriguing about picking out the specific letter needed from the World Book Collection and reading up on the information the authors shared.
According to the official website of The World Book International, this encyclopedic collection was first founded in 1915. It is described as "a leading publisher of authoritative, age-appropriate, and reliable educational materials for children and adults. Based in Chicago, IL, World Book is committed to creating print and digital educational products that meet the highest editorial standards and ignite and inspire a lifelong love of learning" (About Us section, para 1).
As I read this, I believe that this company was able to do just that! I may not have read romance novels and story books as often as every other child would, but my appetite for learning was open; I was never satisfied with any information I received but I always had a desire within me to dig deeper until I fed my hunger for knowledge.
One of the things I was very interested in as a child was the Solar System. I cannot quite remember if it was a lesson or a class project, but something sparked that desire within me to research the system. I do remember coming home from primary school and rushing towards our family library to learn about each and every one of the nine planets (at the time). I remember the living room floor was filled with almost all the World Books as I delved into the information the books presented. The pictures that were presented in the book was just for a child like me who needed to see to understand.
Information is readily available on the internet on search engines such as Google right at one's finger tips, but although these books are updated as the years go by, I am of the opinion that these books are not being circulated as they should be (on this side of the world of course). This is unfortunate because the information presented on the world wide web is not quite accurate as it should be.
This is because the internet is a place where anyone can become whomever he/ she chooses to be. In addition, one of the greatest problems that we face as a people is our unwillingness to read and gather information through our own research. We find ourselves expecting all the answers to be given at a few strokes of the keyboard and a number of mouse clicks; however, real answers are found with extra intensional digging into the mere information given.
Online sites such as Wikipedia also give anyone an opportunity to become a keyboard scholar by plagiarizing information from well known authors or even using their own fabricated data to present as meaningful information for the viewing audience. This is why I am in full support of information houses such as The World Book collections and other encyclopedias that are written and documented by scholars and well learned researchers, who dedicate their time (and in some cases their lives) for the production of these books for information dissemination.
Although we are advancing more rapidly into a technological era where everything seems to be technologized, it is still my hope that these collections do not die out but are continually updated and shared in public library and learning institutions.
Imagine a time when you had to do an assignment but there seems to be a glitch in the power in your home, school or cell phone company. Not only are you not going to be entertained by music videos on Youtube, but you become frustrated because you cannot google the information you need.
This is a perfect scenario that college and university students know all too well - libraries are not updated with books containing the precise information needed and books are outdated as not enough information is suitable for present day. Encyclopedic collections such as The World Book change this as the information is constantly updated and precise.
My dear readers, I dream of a world where our children reach to a place where they not only say "just google it" but they can say, "first WorldBook it!" Let us not allow technology to take us away from acquiring the accuracy of the information we desire.
References
Computer Hope. Google. Retrieved on January 10, 2017 from http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/g/google.htm
WorldBook International. About Us. Retrieved on January 10, 2017 from https://international.worldbook.com
Let's make this discussions interesting! Which do you prefer? Do you prefer Google and other search engines or do you prefer old school Encyclopedias? Leave a comment down below and let me know!!
