Date post: | 18-Oct-2014 |
Category: |
Technology |
View: | 4,322 times |
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"'This house believes librarians cannot any longer offer more than Google'.".
My premise:
• “Google” is used as a synonym for all the internet search engines that are available for public use and which index publicly available information.
• And I was a librarian. Until I discovered the Internet.
What can search engines offer (that librarians can’t)?
24/7 access
Geographically independent
Currency
Speed
An independent source
Data
• Library of Congress: 20 terabytes• Amazon: 42 terabytes• YouTube: 45 terabytes• Google: 100s of terabytes• World Data Centre for Climate: 330
terabytes, 6 petabytes of additional data = 3 times the amount of ALL the U.S. academic research libraries contents combined.
Accuracy?
So…
RSS feeds and alerts
Data gathering
Complexity?
What else can Google do?
• Web, Images, News, Blogs, Products, Books, Maps, Scholar, Video, Music, Reader, Base, Directory, Finance, Catalogs, Bookmarks, Linux, Apple, Macintosh, Trends, Notebook, Accessible, Code, Patents, Timeline, Maps, Movies, Definitions, Weather, Sites, Calculator, Flights, Shakespeare, Health, Docs, Email, RSS, Gadgets, Music trends, Mars, Ride Finder, Suggest, Sets, Alerts, etc etc
But the real reason?
• LIBRARIANS ARE SLEEPWALKING!
• “Our summer break” Friday, June 29, 2007 11:23 AM Posted By Pam Saenger, Associate Marketing Manager
How many engines do YOU use?
Do you ever:
• Say “Google it” or “Let me just check Google”
• Think of Google as the first search engine to use when you go on the net?
• Use ‘Google’ as a synonym for ‘search engine’?
• Think you’d be lost without Google?
•Google has 87.3% of the UK search engine market.
87.3%
Do you…
• Know your search engines as well as you do your reference collections?
• Know the strengths and weaknesses of the GYMA resources in the same detail you do your subscription databases?
• Know which engine is best for images, people, blogs, specific countries, re-ranking results, for children, sounds, etc?
Now, of course…
• It’s not ‘just’ Google• It’s not ‘just’ librarians• It’s not ‘just’ information• A combination of a skilled librarian, a
powerful computer, basic technical abilities, and a host of search resources is… well…
In summary
• A librarian can add a depth of understanding
• The ability to manipulate data across a range of resources
• Work with an enquirer• …. and leave the rest up to