Google Scholar customized

"More than 100 colleges and universities have made arrangements with Google
that will give people using the Google Scholar search engine on their
campuses more direct access to library materials there."

http://chronicle.com/free/2005/05/2005051101t.htm

Article on providing computer assistance

I ran across this article on helping students with their computer problems
and I thought it provided good advice in a humorous manner. It might be
helpful for librarians who help students with computer problems to review
this article.

Libraries: How They Stack Up

OCLC has put together a nice brochure titles Libraries: How They Stack Up.
It talks about the impact of libraries.

http://www5.oclc.org/downloads/community/librariesstackup.pdf

LJ article: The entry level gap

The Entry Level Gap
By Rachel Holt & Adrienne L. Strock -- 5/1/2005

Breaking in to the profession is harder than ever―if you're fresh out of
library school

http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA527965

In Defense of Stupid Users

Library Journal
In Defense of Stupid Users By Todd Miller -- 3/15/2005

At the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting in January, I attended yet another industry program—this one under the aegis of NISO on metasearching—where attendees in a packed room discussed various aspects of searching lots of databases at the same time.

I should have clocked the time it took before someone voiced the obligatory disparaging comment about the ignorant user searching "Britney Spears." Similar comments came on the heels of the haughty laughter ridiculing the typical unenlightened user's inability to craft beautiful search strings replete with wildcards, Boolean operators, and appropriate filter selections. It doesn't seem to matter the intended meeting topic; we just can't wait to dump on the user.

It then occurred to me that maybe it was not the user who was unenlightened.

Enter Google

What if carmakers sat around their boardrooms guffawing at the stupidity of their customers? Maybe this is precisely what American carmakers did in the 1960s and 1970s, laughing at the absurdity of the typical American car owner, who cheerfully towed the smoking station wagon to the service station on virtually every trip to grandma's.

The weekends dad would spend under the car, replacing plugs and hoses, preparing the car for another week. Until, after 50,000 miles, he'd give up and replace it entirely.

Then the Japanese came. They built cars that would last a quarter-million miles and always arrive at grandma's intact. Dad started driving a Lay-Z-Boy on the weekends. Suddenly, carmakers weren't laughing anymore.

Sort of like Google entering the library world.

We want our J Lo

Google doesn't proceed from the assumption that its customers are stupid. It proceeds from the assumption that customers want something, and it's Google's job to figure out what it is and how best to serve it up to them. Even if, God forbid, what they want is trivia on Britney Spears

One way this mindset is manifest in Google is in its emphasis on the back end instead of the front end of searching. In the library world, we spend a remarkable amount of time and energy larding up our search interfaces with umpteen filters, Boolean pull-downs, radio buttons, and so on.

After we've built the ultimate stretch Cadillac of search engines, we proceed to "educate" the user about constructing searches in native command languages. And we're incredulous when Johnny turns to Google instead of to the awesome nuclear engine we've constructed. Obviously, something must be wrong with Johnny if he doesn't fully appreciate and engage our console of the arsenal of knowledge.

No mechanics, just drivers

Google gives its users a pitiful solo search box. How can it compete? The answer from the old guard is that it's dumbed down. The reality is that Google gives its customers what they want: simple searching, powerful results.

I have no interest in auto mechanics. When my car breaks down (which doesn't happen because it's a Honda), I take it to a mechanic. I am content to confine my knowledge of the automotive process to pointing the car and stepping on the gas. My primary interest is arriving at my destination safely, with minimal hassle. Does that make me a stupid user? Could be, but I'm still not going to strap on a tool belt no matter how much I'm taunted by macho mechanics.

Get under the hood

Instead of jacking up the dashboard with extra knobs and switches, Google has invested under the hood and enriched its results with thesauri and links to related material. In addition to producing a surprising amount of relevant core content, Google provides news, maps, definitions, books, and more.

The net result is high content, low hassle, and happy users. This is not lowest common denominator; it is listening to the market and giving it precisely what it wants.

I feel the need to preempt a knee-jerk reaction regarding one engine fitting all sizes. I do believe there is a need and a place for the nuclear engine. The option should be available for users to search with laser precision.

Let's face it, though. This is only necessary for five percent or less of all searchers. This does not mean that the number of savvy users is limited to five percent. All users are savvy.

The job of information professionals is not to make all users into information professionals. Our job is either to give them the right tools for the job or do the job for them.

Todd Miller is President, WebFeat.

 

 

A Student's Plea for Librarian Etiquette

The following letter was found on the internet...

Dear Abby:

I have been thinking about writing this letter for a long time. I'm a
sophomore in college.. I take five classes and work part-time at a gas
station. Maybe I'm not as studious as I should be, and I probably
should know how to do research for my papers, but when I go to the
library, you'd be surprised by some of the things that I see - so I
have written:

A Student's Plea for Librarian Etiquette

Please treat me with respect. I may not be as educated as you, but I'm
trying. Maybe I don't know when Nixon was President, or
that "carcinoma" in another word for cancer, or what a "peer reviewed"
journal is, but that doesn't mean I'm stupid.

Please give me priority. I'm sure you have lots to do (so do I) but
could you keep an eye out for me when I come to the desk for help.
Libraries are intimidating to me and it takes some courage to ask for
help.

Help me ask the question. Sometimes I'm not exactly sure what I want
or need. Because you are more experienced and knowledgeable, I'm
hoping you can counsel me. Please don't start grilling me about what
I want, or where I've looked, or what class it's for. Talk WITH me
about why I am here; then talk TO me about what approaches to take.

Please don't show me everything you know about cataloging, or indexing
or databases. I'll probably forget it anyway because, unlike you, I
don't need to know this everyday. I don't want to be a librarian; I
just want to get on with my paper.

Give me some assurance that you are doing the best you can. You know a
lot, but you can't know everything. If you aren't sure that the
answer, advice or referral you are giving me is right, could you let
me know? I don't mind hearing that.

Please don't restrict everything I can do in the library. I use a
Yahoo account because I can store my papers there and keep a calendar
and check my email. My campus email doesn't do all those things. If
you lock down access, I can't do my work.

Please don't create a double-standard. I know I should be using the
library for academic reasons, but sometimes I just want to read the
newspaper, or play a game, or talk to my friends, or shop online.
These are the same things I see the library staff doing sometimes. The
only difference is that they're getting paid for it.

And, by the way, a simple "I'm glad you came by. Let me know if there
is anything we can do to help," makes my day.