Receive the weekly sampler of posts and "Resource of the Week".
Subscribe »

Enter your
email address:

My Account »


Bookmark and Share

Testimonial?
If you find ResourceShelf useful, please supply a testimonial »








Home > ResourceBlog > Article

« All ResourceBlog Articles

 

Bookmark and Share   Feed

Thursday, 20th March 2003

Another Sterotypical Article About Libraries and Librarians

Web Search--Google
"Google�s Human Touch"
Where should I start? The article begins by doing a great job of reinforcing the librarian stereotype. "In the good old days, if you had a question, you'd head to the library to do your research. And if you were still stumped, the nice librarian with the horn-rimmed glasses would gladly help." It continues with the sentence, "Search engines such as Yahoo!, AltaVista, and Google have largely replaced those library trips." All of that in the first two paragraphs! The author continues on with a the virtues of Google Answers making no mention of the free virtual reference services available from libraries. Also, no mention of remotely accessible databases. The article does contain a mention of Jessamyn West's experience as a Google Researcher. Nevertheless, this article once again shows that while we may be building some great services and more importantly have the skills to help others find answers/use these tools, many of the people we are trying to offer these services to think the "open web" and Google Answers is it! Sad.
UPDATE: I telephoned the writer of this article and at about 10pm Friday she got back to me. I briefly explained that libraries and library services (databases, virtual reference, non-commercial directories) are available. After hearing my explanation, she told me that she had "no idea" that all of these services and content is available from today's public and academic library. Good news, It looks like these ideas will become stories that she'll write in the next few months. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
--
Now, Take a Look at the Next Post

Views: 161




blog comments powered by Disqus

« All ResourceBlog Articles

 

Read about the FreePint FamilyFreePint Family

A family of resources to help information workers be more effective, raise the value of information in their organisations and contribute to success. Read more »


FeedLatest Family Articles:


Click to view the article Quilting big data threads
Thursday, 24th May 2012

Recently I have found myself cooing over visualisation maps (and heat maps) of health and well being resources. The content rich data is overlayed with mapping technologies, and some interesting themes and patterns are emerging.


Click to view the article The fallacy of information overload
Wednesday, 23rd May 2012

A lot of the talk around social media in the last year has been around information overload. Social media has provided us with new and exciting ways to create content. But it has also meant learning new ways to manage and engage with social media tools. Are we teetering on the edge of an information overload precipice?


Click to view the article Information overload: fact, fantasy or filter failure?
Wednesday, 23rd May 2012

Information overload is a figment of your imagination. Or a failure of your filter. Or a symptom of your technological submissiveness. Depends on who you ask.


Click to view the article Newsdesk: tracking millions of pieces of information a day
Tuesday, 22nd May 2012

What if you had to sort through 3.5 million articles and social media posts a day and try to pull out the most relevant items for your organisation? What if you then had to cobble it all together into something readable for your top groups and executives in your organisation?


Click to view the article Alacra Compliance adds managerial oversight
Tuesday, 22nd May 2012

Alacra Compliance saves time by aggregating information from both free and fee-based sources and enabling users to conduct an accurate federated search across these sources (coined “simultaneous search” by Alacra).


All Family Articles »
Family Articles by Category »


Tell us what you're working on,
and we'll talk to you about how FreePint can help »


FreePint Family Testimonials

"The free content from FreePint helps me to stay informed of trends. My researchers call it an "uncanny ability to find these details". ..."

More testimonials »






Subscribe

Subscribe to the ResourceShelf Newsletter and receive the weekly sampler of posts and Resource of the Week.

Find out more »

ResourceShelf sponsored by:

Article Categories

All Article Categories »

Archive

All Archives »