[Web4lib] RE: Another Google question

[Thomas Dowling]

Jennifer Heise wrote:
>
> From the Web4Lib website:
> "The *Web4Lib* electronic discussion is for the discussion of issues
> relating to the creation, management, and support of library-based
> World-Wide Web servers, services, and applications. "


Helping users who rely on Google as a primary tool for information
discovery is certainly a library service.  Besides, if you read down a
little further: "All messages must relate, however slightly, to the
general topic of World Wide Web systems and libraries or library staff.
The list owner interprets this rather broadly..."

My take on this: Google has made itself all but a monopoly in the Web
search business (sorry, Yahoo, MSN, et al, but it's true), and the web
search business has become a primary conduit for our users when they
seek information.

Google runs as a black box, whose inner workings are largely invisible
to us, which does a lot to hamper our assistance to our users (hence the
W4L connection).  We're stuck trying to deduce what's really going on
based on the tiniest details of externally observable behavior.  One
person's "nit picking" is another person's "close attention to detail."



-- 
Thomas Dowling
tdowling at ohiolink.edu