Web Search
Source: The Register "A Quantum Theory of Internet Value"
The always controversial Andrew Orlowski writes about how "Google sucks." Some of you might think that I would agree with him, but I don't. Google works fine for some types of searches, but so does AlltheWeb, Gigablast, Teoma. Each tool has its strengths and weaknesses. For certain types of seaching, specialized databases like Citeseer and SmealSearch are essential. Maybe a tool like Vivisimo or Grokker could help the searcher find what they need. It all depends on the information need. Luckily, information professionals have the skills not only to help the searcher decide what they need (reference interview) but to also suggest a wide variety of resources that might help satisfy the need. We can also help teach the searcher to do this on their own. What I think Mr. Orlowski is saying is that Google or any web engine is not the be-all to end-all and relying on only one tool is not a good idea. This is something I absolutely agree with. The problem for some people is that they have no idea about what else is available. This is why the library world must do a better job of marketing. Change starts with each one of us. If nothing else this article might wake up a few people to the fact that librarians, libraries, books, and electronic resources other than Google are still vital. Included in the article are several positive comments about the libraries and librarians. Orlowski writes, "Taxonomies also have been proved to have value: archivists can justify a smirk as manual directory projects dmoz [Open Directory] floundered - true archivists have a far better sense of meta-data than any computerized system can conjure. If you're in doubt, befriend a librarian, and from the resulting dialog, you'll learn to start asking good questions. Your results, we strongly suspect, will be much more fruitful than any iterative Google searches."
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