Friday 6 January 2006

Google Schmoogle...

Read this article.

For those of you who can't access this, or don't want to, here's a summary: Google's great. Doctor's are using Google to diagnose your illnesses. Google's beating the pants off of the other tools including PubMed and Google Scholar is gaining popularity. But don't use Google too much.

Ok, I'm being a little petty. But it's early and I'm tired of seeing articles like this. Ok. We get it. Google is popular. We'll use it already. Yes, we know it's not perfect. Yes, we'll use other things. Not only all this but it starts off with the usual, "Does Google mean the end of libraries?!?!? Oh no!!!" No. The answer is no. FindLaw doesn't mean the end of lawyers and Medline doesn't mean the end of doctors. Give it a rest. Libraries may not last forever but no technology is advanced enough to replace all the books and all the librarians and all the products and services that come out of those buildings just yet. Chill.

If people start thinking that they can get all the answers out of Google then that means people are dumber than I thought.
  1. All information available is not on the Internet quite yet.
  2. If the people at Google have figured out how to get to the wisdom through all the MUD sites and porn, then they deserve a Nobel Prize and to rule us all because they've solved the riddle of the human mind. They've done a good job, but not that good.
  3. Too many people can barely make themselves understood by other people, speaking the same language, let alone conveying their information needs within a tiny little text box with a few words and an enter button.

Like I said, Google's great. I use it all the time. But it's like any tool. It's useful for certain things and useless for others. This is what you should use Google for:

  • Getting started on a topic when you have no idea where to start.
  • Getting information on a topic you're not sure how to describe.
  • Finding the website for a company or association or organization you don't know the address of but know the name of.
  • Finding some popular opinions about a topic.
  • Finding information on a topic you can't find anything on anywhere else.

That's pretty much it. Tell me if I've missed anything. Or tell if I haven't missed anything and you just want to tell me how great I am. I'll struggle through accepting some praise if you really feel you have to... *laugh*

5 comments:

andiepoo said...

Touchy, touchy... But if librarians aren't, who would be, eh? :) The Internet definitely isn't going to solve everything. I think it's just more of because books don't have a Search function.

Anonymous said...

Here here! Excellent commentary on Google. You're right on!

andiepoo said...

Ooh, nice new layout. :)

andiepoo said...

Ooh, nice new layout. :)

Matt said...

Thank you, thank you... *taking a bow*