Evidence in Practice: Answers Are Within Your Reach

Abstract

As a graduate student in the 1970s, I was introduced to the revolutionary idea that a computer could be used to search the literature. I was skeptical that this new technology could both save time and discover articles that could be missed in a traditional “hard copy” search of journals and indexes. Nevertheless, my dissertation was looming, and I was willing to try anything to make life easier. To perform a computerized search, students had to schedule an appointment with the university librarian. Only one librarian was trained in using this new technology, so appointments often had to be scheduled weeks in advance. When the big day finally came, I was ushered into a small, dimly lit, windowless room. The computer—which was the size of a minivan—filled most of the room. It emitted a soft, droning hum that sounded like a Gregorian chant. The librarian, seated solemnly at the keyboard, went through the ritual of dialing into the database. I sat some distance off to the side. I believed that this colossus could sense fear, and I did not want to get too close. If the planets and stars were aligned correctly, the computer would connect to the database, and we could begin the search. I would offer specific keywords, and the librarian would enter these keywords and report the number of relevant articles or “hits” related to each keyword. We then would combine specific keywords and try to narrow …