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Google Answers
The Original Post, Links, and Q&A With Google About the Service Can Be Found Under the Thursday, April 18th Postings
Those of you who subscribe to the Weekly Reminder E-Mail Might Have Seen These Comments. I’m Posting Them Here For Those Of You Who Aren’t On The Mailing List.
For those of you who haven�t heard about Google Answers and need background, you�ll find plenty of coverage under the April 18th postings on the weblog. I�ve been adding content to this original post, including a Q&A with a Google spokesperson and links to comments from Genie Tyburski (TVC Alert) and Jenny Levine (The Shifted Librarian). I�ve also included a link to Tara Calishain�s article about Google Answers. The article was published as an Information Today NewsBreak.
*The Google Answers beta came online on Thursday, March 18, 2002. Therefore, we’ll need to wait and see how the service develops but its creation and possible development are still deserving of discussion. Even if the service doesn�t make it out of beta, it could be a good thing. Huh? Yes, it might be another needed wake-up call about how we MARKET our skills, services, and tools.
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*Let�s not forget that Google has a well-deserved reputation for being a great service. Who doesn�t include it in their web searching toolbox? It works and it works well. The company is constantly offering new and innovative services like Google Catalogs. For information professionals and researchers, Google is the only search engine at the present time to full-text crawl adobe acrobat (.pdf) files and other file types. The problem is not what Google is doing but what the information profession hasn�t done.
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*Online answer services have been tried before but they were NOT started and developed by Google. As Barbara Quint recently wrote, “to Google”, �you googled�, �it has googled”, etc. has become a verb that means, “to search” for many people. Forget web search or proprietary service. Google equals search! Google is “the service” for all facets of the search engine user population, from the techie in Hong Kong to the most casual online user in Miami. However, it’s important to remember that other important and useful search services exist and continue to improve. Finally, there are always new tools in the works.
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*Google has every reason to want to expand the company, develop new revenue streams, and satisfy user requests at the same time. I say go for it Google! Google is a business. It�s supposed to do this. According to the company, Google Answers is a service that users asked for. What does that say about library/information professional marketing?
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*For information professionals and libraries Google Answers says something, and could say even more in the future, about how we market our skills, our services, and the tools we offer. We must do better. Think about it. Google Answers already exists and it�s called the library. Virtual and telephone reference services, “Ask A” sites, remotely accessible databases, which many public libraries here in the U.S. offer patrons at no charge, books, and most importantly our skills and knowledge at finding, accessing, and making choices, transcend any answer service that a web search could offer. These facts are true for all types of libraries and information professionals.
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*Google answers will most likely be a service where people are paying for answers and materials that are available to them at no charge from a library. That�s sad!
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*Additionally, people could pay money and be told by the Google Researcher to go to the library. Also very sad. If this occurs, we had better have the marketing in place to keep these new users coming back. Since so much full-text is not on the “open web” will people continue to pay to buy articles and books without considering what they could find from their library? What a great idea for Google to start another revenue stream or two.
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*Will Google Researcher�s suggest books from Amazon or other online bookstores? Will they make additional money by suggesting �must read� titles and making a few extra dollars by becoming Amazon associates? By the way, I did say books. (:
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*I�m still waiting to hear if the database of asked and answered questions will be maintained with corrected or changed facts, sites, etc. Of course, you might say that if it�s not it would be similar to any USENET discussion. Maybe, but remember these answers will have Google�s �approval�.
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*Google Answers could continue the myth that all answers can be adequately answered using �open web� resources, and that all the information that you would ever need is available on the open web free. We all know that the web is a tremendous tool but it�s only a tool. It�s constantly amazing all of us with what you can find. Nevertheless, web search and research are not synonymous. At the same time always using a general search engine to find important resources might not always be the best idea. Collection development is just as important with open web as it is with electronic and print materials.
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*Of all the things that could happen perhaps the scariest deals with funding. Remember, politicians college administrators and your boss now about and most likely use and love Google. Will those who provide funding see that Google can answer questions with what�s available on the �open web?� They might ask, �so why are we paying all this money for information, when Google can charge money and only utilize free sources?
A Final Thought
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I would like to invite all of you who don�t work in the information profession to closely examine what the libraries you have access to offer. Since access to many types of libraries are dependent on where you work or study, I’ll focus these comments around where most people have access capabilities.
If you haven’t visited your public library lately, you really should. There you�ll find trained and qualified professionals who have access to resources beyond what you can find from Google or any other open web search engine. If you don’t want to visit the library building, many of the services are available to you free without ever having to leave your home. The reach of today�s public library extends way past its walls.
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Are you aware of “virtual reference desk” services where you can get an experienced librarian to assist and guide you without ever having to leave your home or office? Cool! Here’s a list of just a few of the places that make these services available. The Library of Congress also offers an “Ask A Librarian” service while many professional and scholarly organizations offer “Ask An” expert sites. If none of these work for you all you may need is a telephone. Why? Because many libraries also offer telephone-based reference assistance.
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Finally, did you know many public libraries offer FREE REMOTE ACCESS to fee-based databases? These databases contain full-text and full-image articles from thousands of publications. This is material that, no matter how diligently you searched, you couldn’t find using Google or any other search engine. To access, all you need is a library card.
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Here are Three Examples of What�s Available! Many of these Databases Offer Full-Text Materials at No Charge! Make Sure To Check What Your Public Library Offers!
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TAKE A LOOK at the remotely accessible databases library cardholders in
Pennsylvania have access to via the Internet.
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Los Angeles Public Library Remotely Accessible Databases
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Arlington Country, Virginia Public Library Remotely Accessible Databases
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Those of you who have access to your company and/or college/university library make sure to also find out what they have to offer. Regardless of where you live around the globe, information professionals are available to assist you in satisfying your information needs.
Thanks to Jenny L. for her comments during the preperation of this commentary.