Reading Report 10/20

Megan Beverly
10/20/09


Reading Report
Bell, Steven J.
The Infodiet: How Libraries Can Offer an Appetizing Alternative to Google" by Steven Bell. Chronicle of Higher Education (2/20/2004).

Students throughout the country have turned from libraries to now using quick methods of searching such as Google. The funny thing about this is because most people use Google for its ease of finding information. But, as the article states people who actually use library search devices spend far less time, because they are not rummaging through irrelevant data that sources like Google provide. Also, the ease of Google takes precedent to people doing research over the sometimes very complicated search one must do through a library resource. The complexity of using library resources turns many users off so they often do not take advantage of the information available. So, libraries are trying to “Googlize” some of their resources, making a more simple search available with high quality results provided. Also, many libraries are trying to make searches more simple for users, but not dumb down the information in any way. It is an effort that software institutes, teachers and institutions will all have to work together to make happen.
I think that this issue is a big one, especially on college campuses. I personally would much rather just use something simple like Google rather than using library resources. It is just something that I have gotten used to over the years, and I feel much more comfortable using it. I think that if teachers required us to use the library and scholarly sources more often in our research, we would all get a better understanding of exactly how it works. I think that we do need to get away from using search engines like Google all the time.