The credibility of books or accessibility of internet – What is your pick? -By Sathyanarayanan from IIM Indore

Whether it is internet or books, both serve as a repository of knowledge where one can turn to knowledge, solace or enlightenment. Books have been an inherent part of human learning and information sharing ever since its first publication in 1455. Reading books not only enriches ones’ knowledge but also provides insights into life lessons and emotional development. In recent times the internet has become an inevitable part of human evolution with its magnificent growth in providing essential information like the definition of a baffling phrase to complex rocket science. Even sections of the society with low literacy can acquire the required knowledge or information through the development of technology viz voice-based internet access which helps them in better interpretation of information.

Credibility of information

Despite information availability, the reliability of the source of information is majorly determined by the publisher’s credibility and the scrutiny process undergone prior to public access. Though every information is easily available through a single search and certain authorized sites also offer scrutinized data, the credibility of information from various unauthorized sites seems to be at stake since most of the information available on the internet is not necessarily published by renowned authors. The business model of certain information or knowledge aggregators like Quora and Wikipedia doesn’t include the information verification process and it lets its users share information without subjecting to any verification. The major reason for non-verification of information in internet sources is the cost of scrutiny involved which affects the profitability of the portal as they are already providing information for zero price. On the contrary, most of the books undergo multiple iterations of scrutiny before any notable publisher brings it to shelves.

Ease of accessibility

Individuals of the current generation are susceptible to distractions and browsing the internet often leads to a serial clicking of unrelated websites which eventually results in accumulation of a multitude of unintended information, consuming a lot of valuable time. Another factor to be considered for complete reliance on a source is the ease of accessibility. Telecom players and tech giants have played a major role in making the internet accessible to a majority of the population through programs like low data tariff and Facebook Zero, though not in prevalence in India currently. Accessibility to hard copy books is not as convenient as that of internet source because people will not be able to own every single book available in the world and it is impossible to carry books every time, but the advent of the internet has facilitated accessing zero weight books at any convenient time and place free of cost.

My go-to place

Considering credibility, I would prefer books over internet sources but in terms of accessibility, time constraint, credibility and cost my go-to place for information consumption is e-books and authorized internet sources as it seems to have an upper edge in this fast-paced world. Since browsing the internet has become the order of the day and reading habit has become an archaic habit for most people, preferable shift towards e-books in line with browsing might gauge people’s attention back towards books and also ensures availability of reliable information to them.

This article was submitted as an entry to Become an Author 2.0 with Dare2Compete.

Sathyanarayanan E - IIM Indore

(Batch of 2019-21)

A first-year student at IIM Indore, he has previously worked with Qualcomm and loves to devour non-fiction. In his free time, he turns to blogging to recharge and refuel.