NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Back to results
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
PDF on ERIC Download full text
ERIC Number: EJ1081342
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1927-5250
EISSN: N/A
The WWW Cabinet of Curiosities: A Serendipitous Research Tool
Arnold, Josie
Journal of Education and Learning, v1 n2 p238-251 2012
This paper proposes that the WWW is able to be fruitfully understood as a research tool when we utilise the metaphor of the cabinet of curiosities, the wunderkammer. It unpeels some of the research attributes of the metaphor as it reveals the multiplicity of connectivity on the web that provides serendipitous interactions between unexpected materials thus bringing new ways of thinking about a given research topic. It explores how the singular research journeys may express themselves so differently that they find a comfortable space for a definition only within an academic cabinet of curiosities. Yet these differences are also made available through utilising an academic search engine in the WWW because it doesn't literally obey the instruction you have given it. I give examples of methodologies and theories that I have found to be apposite for such serendipity. I show that the narrative of the research journey is a significant contribution to knowledge through explicating a subjective academic narrative in an auto-ethnographic methodological framework.
Canadian Center of Science and Education. 1120 Finch Avenue West Suite 701-309, Toronto, OH M3J 3H7, Canada. Tel: 416-642-2606; Fax: 416-642-2608; e-mail: jel@ccsenet.org; Web site: http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/jel
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A