Nonfiction Book Primary Sources

Reading as a form of learning and as a leisure activity has been around for thousands of years. Ancient libraries were filled with countless records of information, and early authors wrote tales of heroic adventures. The organization and preservation of knowledge were done solely through books until recently. With the dawn of technology came the annihilation of books; as average people began purchasing their own handheld computers, a whole new world of knowledge became accessible within mere seconds. Informational volumes went out of style in favor of search engines such as Google. As the Internet continued to advance, books became available digitally. No longer were physical books needed when there were millions of books accessible on one

A quick search on Google for “politics” yields 966 million search results in only .46 seconds. While there are some reliable sources, most of those 966 million search results are not credible enough to obtain accurate information or site in a professional paper. It is time-consuming to go through each site and determine whether the source is credible, then read for the desired information. Nonfiction books are a more credible source of information than most online websites. Many nonfiction books are written by primary sources or people who were present during the event being written about. They are valuable and reliable sources because the author experienced something first-hand then documented the experience so that future generations would be able to learn from their recounting. Secondary sources are also common in nonfiction books. These scholarly books of interpretation and synthesis are created by people who have done extensive research and are knowledgeable on a certain topic. These sources are more accurate than most sources on the Internet; there are some websites composed of journalists hired to create fake, yet attractive news that will pull in readers. Fact checkers of legitimate digital articles and books refer to physical books for reliable information. The internet also contains hidden information. The search results on Google are part of the visible web, but most of the information available digitally is invisible, meaning it cannot be found with a search engine. Paper books do not hide resources that are difficult and time-consuming to find. While it may take longer to search through paper books for a specific piece of knowledge, they will yield better, more credible