I read the whole introduction, and the part that hit home for me was the quote of Gertrude Himmelfarb where she complained ". . . the Internet does not distinguish between the true and the false, the important and the trivial, the enduring and the ephemeral. . . Every source appearing on the screen has the same weight and credibility as every other; no authority is 'privileged' over any other."
She said this early (1996) days of the "public" Internet. I believe her statement still stands today. As much as people use the Internet, many still cannot tell the true from false.
Many people believed the news items published about the various candidates that have been proven untrue. One example is the young man in another country published articles that were false, and people believed them. His motivation was money, and the search engines paid him well for the many click throughs! For many readers, the fact that it was in print, made it true! This and many other examples they support what Himmelfarb said.
My idea for my research project is to continue the research I started in a technical writing class I took spring semester. I wrote a paper on the early days of the electric railway (trolley) to Mount Vernon from its inception to about 1907. I want to flesh the paper out and extend the time line to around 1931.
In addition, I plan to continue to use the local public library's resources along with other state and local resources to continue my project. I have used Pro Quest both at the public library and NVCC to tap the archives of the Washington Post. I find the public library's access to be easier to use. Also, this area has a wealth of information through the many libraries and historical groups and so forth.
