Before Google Reflection

Google feels like my best friend. Anytime I am unsure of something I simply "look it up." From the amount of times I say "Let me look it up!", I know I am dependent upon search engines. For this research assignment, "Before Google," my classmates and I have been challenged to find an archived object and analyze it as we would have had to do so before the explosion of everyday search engines, like Google. To complete this assignment, I went to the Rose Archival Library, located on the 10th floor of Emory's Woodruff Library, and was automatically directed to a computer housing a computer-generated database. The librarian suggested that I explore this database in order to narrow down what specific archival document(s) I would like to have pulled from their exclusive collection, so I can physically interact with these archives. Although I understand the reasonings as to why doing research on a database could be helpful for someone who is unsure of what they are looking for (like I was), I found it ironic that I had to first interact with a search engine-like system before I could interact with the tangible archival object. Furthermore, once I did find a source of interest to me -- I picked early photographs of Alice Walker -- I then had to go through a "check-out" process on the database. This "check-out" process was extremely prolonged. After selecting a few desired photographs online, I had to turn in identification proof, wait for someone to retrieve the photographs, learn how to interact with the photographs in the "reading room", etc. Once I had access to said few photographs, I also could not take pictures of them. To me, this exercise felt contradictory as I had to go through a database online first. This exercise also reiterates how much more time used to be put into pre-research and research, prior to the advancement of search engines. To conclude, I I want to remind everyone how dependent, reliable and addicted we are not only to our search engines, but also to the instant gratification they provide for us. Without being able to take any photographs of the Alice Walker images, I decided to complete this assignment by photographing my favorite archival object present in their display case. I found an image of an old Emory University student. This image resonated with me the most as she is naturally stunning. I also enjoyed that I and other viewers can see Emory's Glenn Memorial Chapel in the reflection of her sunglasses. The caption next to the image reads: "Emory student looking towards Glenn Memorial Chapel, 1960s". After analyzing this image, I attempted to search this image on Google and to conclude, I could not find it within Google's immediate photo database search.