When evaluating the usefulness of tools such as Voyant, versus reading a source in its entirety, there’s no doubt that both have a time and place. Being able to see the key, or most frequently used, words before reading a document, decreases the chances that you will spend a lot of time reading a source that turns out to be useless to you. However, without the right amount of context, tools like Voyant could potentially steer you away from sources that could have been just what you needed. Sometimes, knowing the frequency of certain words doesn’t actually tell you what a document is about (even with eliminating the stop words). In fact, I think I would prefer using “Ctrl + f” to find words that I am specifically seeking out. That way I can quickly read the context in which they are used to help me determine how useful the information will be.

Reading a document in its entirety, or close to it, is definitely the best way to interpret and understand a set of material. However, with the vast amount of information on the internet, it isn’t even close to being possible. Using a tool like Voyant is perfect for getting you “out of the weeds” as a researcher. It gives you a preliminary way to establish if a source is worth diving into. The right balance of both tactics is certainly a recipe for successful research.