Congratulations! If you’re reading this chapter, you’re probably in college. This means you’ve graduated from high school, successfully completed the relevant application forms, and been admitted. Well done. You may have a very specific career goal in mind at this point. Perhaps you’re pre-med or you’re planning on majoring in business or education. Maybe, like I did, you’ve been planning on majoring in history since high school. Or maybe you’re undecided. I should note that “undecided” is one of the most popular majors among the students whom I advise. In many cases, undecided is also wise since it allows you to be open to a variety of potential majors or careers. In any case, when you think of “stuff you learn in college,” you probably imagine high-level mathematics or literary theory. You may not immediately think of reading, research, critical analysis, and writing. Employers obviously value these skills immensely, as is evidenced by a veritable avalanche of popular articles and academic studies. For example, a 2009 National Association of Colleges and Employers survey found that half of employers believed job candidates were unable to speak or write effectively. This is especially problematic given that the same employers have consistently ranked the ability to communicate clearly as the most important quality in an employee. In fact, developing desirable communication and other so-called soft skills are among the most important achievements of college graduates. Therefore, writing and communicating well isn’t just for English majors; it’s for everyone.
But the acquisition of job-related skills isn’t the only, or even the primary, reason to attend college. Perhaps the Great Recession of 2008 caused educators to reemphasize the economic value of skills like critical thinking and writing. In any case, living as responsible and engaged citizens in a modern democracy also requires these skills. As a result, now is also the time to double down on their civic value. Thinking and communicating well don’t just make students more employable. They make them better citizens. As Joan W. Scott, professor emerita at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, said in a recent interview with Bill Moyers, the university is “supposed to teach citizens how to think better, how to think critically, how to tell the truth from falsehood, how to make a judgment about when they’re being lied to and duped and when they’re not, [and] how to evaluate scientific teaching.” Learning to distinguish truth from falsehood in order to serve the common good remains at the core of colleges’ missions.
Of course, the invention and spread of access to the internet and now social media has changed everything. Today knowledge, opinions, and interpretation are endlessly available to us. Anyone with internet access can also access information on virtually any topic for free almost instantaneously from any location. Never has so much been available to so many for so little. Naturally, when I was a student in the 1990s, we trudged uphill to the library in waist-deep snow both ways. Today you lounge in the temperature-controlled comfort of your dorm room and Google “Kennedy assassination” or whatever your research paper topic happens to be. The moral of these stories is usually that the storyteller’s generation had it so hard and your generation has it so easy. In fact, you probably do believe you have it easy thanks to the wonders of Google. I actually disagree. Instead, I would like to propose a counterintuitive interpretation of the impact of the internet on our ability to read, research, think, and write. Rather than make any of these things easier, it has actually made them more difficult.
Now, more than ever, college instructors need to spend additional time helping students develop these abilities. I can still remember using the physical card catalog to find books in my hometown public library. The musty scent that emerged when you pulled open one of the Lilliputian drawers was enchanting and somehow simultaneously both soothing and exhilarating. The only books available were physical books, carefully shelved and maintained by dedicated professional librarians. Magazines were made of glossy paper and kept in their own special section of the library. I used to enjoy Cat Fancy, which featured glossy centerfolds of especially attractive purebred felines. If I needed to learn basic facts about something, I couldn’t turn to Wikipedia or another online encyclopedia. The library kept actual encyclopedia collections. My family even bought me a World Book Encyclopedia collection from a real-live human traveling salesperson when I was in junior high school. Even in college and graduate school, when using a computer-based card catalog had become the norm and internet research was becoming more common, I still did most of my research using actual books and academic journals in libraries
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