[OPLINTECH] FW: A very strong reason to use Library databases instead of Search engines; Google Notebook

[Aaron Bedra]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Aaron Bedra <abedra at westervillelibrary.org>
Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 15:05:20 -0400
To: JKENZIG <JKENZIG at cuyahoga.lib.oh.us>
Conversation: [OPLINTECH] A very strong reason to use Library databases
instead of Search engines; Google Notebook
Subject: Re: [OPLINTECH] A very strong reason to use Library databases
instead of Search engines; Google Notebook

Some thoughts on this...

I am having a hard time finding on this site where it compares library
databases to internet search engines, just where it compares search engines
to one another.  

> Scary thought..
> 
> On the five most popular sites -- Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL and Ask -- 72
> percent of results for searches such as "free screensavers," "digital
> music," "popular software" and "singers" were risky, the company said.

This article is just a giant ad for their product Site Advisor
http://www.siteadvisor.com.  The real problem is that they use the term
"risky" throughout the report yet fail to define what exactly "risky" means,
and to what group of users it even infiltrates.

> Google is great but best stick to the ever safe subscription databases
> for information where at all possible, I guess.

This report really doesn't give us any strong reason to use library
databases vs. search engines at all.  The databases are very wonderful
tools, and I use them all the time, however, I would hesitate to spin a
patron off to the library databases before suggesting Google, etc. until
someone releases a real usability study of library databases vs. internet
search engines.   

An afterthought...

FUD (Fear Uncertainty and Doubt) is a very strong tool for selling to the
masses.  It is very easy for anyone to make a bunch of graphs with large
"red" bars that associate some undefined concept of "scary and bad".  I
think instead of besmirching companies that really have great technology, we
should be more focused on teaching our patrons what good and bad are, and
informing them of the tangible risks of what they do on the internet instead
of subscribing to marketing drones that just want to sell something.  In the
end, awareness is the best thing that we can provide to our patrons, along
with our refined database engines of course!



Aaron J. Bedra
Westerville Public Library
126 S. State St.
Westerville OH, 43081
614-882-7277 x114
abedra at westervillelibrary.org
http://www.westervillelibrary.org




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