Response to Anderson and Kanuka

Certainly this article is extremely relevant and useful. The internet with its endless and unprecedented supply of and access to, information will be the strongest source I use to collect and collate the literature review for my thesis. As Anderson and Kanuka (2003) point out, the literature review “is both a process and a product” (p.39). As a product it belies the structure and the foundations that the thesis rests upon and as a process the literature review is consulted, amended and elaborated on throughout.
While the internet has unlimited access to information at exceptional (relative to any period before) speed, much of the information is unedited or for other reasons not suitable for the purposes of academic writing. The danger then lies in how to insure that while using this goldmine of resources that the quality of the review is not compromised.
Accessibility, timeliness, readability, relevance and authority are the five elements that are required form information sources (Kibirige & Depalo, 2000). The internet has improved the efficiency in all five fields and Anderson and Kanuka make practical suggestions for “evaluating and authenticating net-based information” (p. 43-45). Using their guidelines (and also common sense) a sound, through and competent literature review can be obtained.
It seems almost impossible to conduct a literature review without the use of the internet.
The poor, tormented souls of academics that lived before its invention.