[Web4lib] Filter Bubbles and Libraries' Public Computers?

[Michael Schofield]

I would guess that except for Google's [alleged] hardware-related 
criteria--OS, screen resolution, computer make and model--that the use of an 
incognito/privacy browser with further tweaking to ensure there's nothing 
stored in the cache, Google's search results should be pretty 
personality-free. The random googling of random patrons should sufficiently 
screw with Google's spookyware*. Or am I just not paranoid enough?

Michael[-]Schofield[.com] | Reference Librarian, &c. 
 
*I'm calling the following "spookyware" from the 57-Criteria link provided 
by the OP

1. Our location - verified.
7. The time we need to type in a query
8. The time we spend on the search result page.
9. The time between selecting different results for the same query.
16. Average POSITION of search results we click on.
19. Our Age
26. Our Sex
28. DO WE USE THE ENTER KEY OR MOUSE TO SEND A SEARCH REQUEST?
33. Where do we move the mouse
34. Amount of typos while searching

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Cindy Harper <charper at colgate.edu>
To: Dan Ream <dream at vcu.edu>
Cc: web4lib at webjunction.org
Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2011 09:37:54 -0400
Subject: Re: [Web4lib] Filter Bubbles and Libraries' Public Computers?

Wouldn't this be a bonus if we could convince Google to exempt library
workstations from such personalization, so that libraries were places that
users could get really unbiased results?

Wishfully thinking,
Cindy Harper, Systems Librarian
Colgate University Libraries



On Mon, Jun 27, 2011 at 9:20 AM, Dan Ream <dream at vcu.edu> wrote:

> I attempted to post this on June 13th, but it apparently never went
> out--trying again.
>
> Web4Libers-
>
> I've been reading and viewing with interest about Eli Pariser's book,
> "The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding from You" and highly
> recommend
> his 9-minute TED talk summary about it at
>
> 
http://www.ted.com/talks/eli_**pariser_beware_online_filter_**bubbles.html<http://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles.html>
> (also on YouTube).
>
> I don't recall this being discussed here before on Web4Lib, but if it has
> already,
> please point me to that discussion.
>
> My questions concern how do the personalized search features that Google
> uses
> effect the shared public computers in our libraries. Beyond personal 
search
> history, Pariser estimates that Google uses 57 criteria to shape your
> results.
> Google hasn't publicly shared what those 57 are, but here's one search
> expert's guess..
>
> 
http://www.rene-pickhardt.de/**google-uses-57-signals-to-**filter/<http://www.rene-pickhardt.de/google-uses-57-signals-to-filter/>
>
> These are thought to include browser type, computer type, and many other
> factors
> that would seem chaotic, but influential to search results on a shared
> public computer
> in a library or campus computer lab.
>
> Beyond the obvious difficulty this presents for teaching librarians to
> explain how
> Google results are found, I'm wondering what steps a library can take to
> reduce
> the personalization functions of Google so that your next Googler's search
> results
> aren't overly influenced by the twenty others who last sat at that same
> library workstation.
>
> Thoughts or suggestions?
>
> Dan Ream
> Director, Outreach and Distance Education
> Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries
> Richmond, Virginia , USA
>
>
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