Lessons from a Librarian: Don’t Always Trust “Research”

Try to look a little deeper.

Photo by Louis Reed on Unsplash

I work as a health sciences librarian at a large research institution. After being in the profession for a few years, I have learned that information isn’t always so factual. However, I am also a writer. So when I write stories and cite research, I sometimes ignore my librarian sensibilities to get my point across. The angel librarian on one shoulder shrinks so the devilish writer can be right.

But the morals in me end up winning because I understand the pitfalls of research. Here are some things about research to be aware of before you say “research says….”:

Google searching is racist.

Yes, you read that correctly. Safia Umoja Noble discusses this in her book Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism. My guess is that when you start to research, you might hit up Google. Google can be a helpful tool to look up the weather or movie times. But it is not as effective for deeper researching.