[Web4lib] Re: Transition to electronic resources in undergraduate social science

[Thomas Krichel]

  B.G. Sloan writes

> The authors argue that greater emphasis on starting research with
> scholarly indexes and bibliographies is a fruitful corrective to
> recent overdependence on random Web searching

  Implied here is that web searches are random and searches in
  scholarly indexes are not, or less so.

  I take issue with this assessment. 

  I understand that web search engines such as Google use proprietary
  techniques that are secret. Thus when you launch a query to them,
  you don't know why you get the answer that you got. In that sense
  searches are random.

  But scholarly indexes as licenced by libraries have just the same
  problem. These indexes use proprietary search engines. There is no
  way to check the underlying software to see how it works. In that
  sense searches are just as random.

  As an example, recently on the medlib-l mailing list, none of the
  about 1600 members did come out to explain why certain queries yield
  certain results on PubMed.  The fact that PubMed is freely available
  for use is neither here nor there. It is just not transparent.

  In fact, I am only aware of one transparent A&I product. But others
  could surly be constructed.

> and will also better ground students in solid research practices as
> transitions in the scholarly publishing world continue.

  As I see it transitions will go towards more open access and more
  access through the open web. Scholarly indexes that are not open
  access will decline. Resisting this trend is leading libraries to
  their doom. 


  Cheers,

  Thomas Krichel                    http://openlib.org/home/krichel
                                RePEc:per:1965-06-05:thomas_krichel
  phone: +7 383 330 6813                       skype: thomaskrichel