The
Googlization of Information:
Google’s Influential Reach Over Information
John Repplinger
Science Librarian
Willamette University
Oregon Library Association,
Annual Conference, April 19th, 2007.
What is “Googlization?”

Ever increasing amounts of accessible
information available on the Internet;
Google makes it easy & convenient to
find in one place.
•
The information already exists. Google
does not create info; it makes info more
accessible.
Four Questions
•
Why Google? Why not Yahoo, Microsoft
or Amazon?
•
How does Google influence information?
•
What impact will Google’s services have
on the information profession?
•
What implications will these services
have on society in general?
Why Google?
Why not Yahoo, Microsoft, or Amazon?
•
Google controls 42-70% of the traffic for
searching (as of July 2006).1
•
Google’s mission…
To organize the world’s information and
make it universally accessible & useful.2
•
Google is constantly innovating.
1.
2.
Arnold, Stephen E. “Online and Search Costs: Koan to Unknowns.”
Online, 30(6):24.
www.google.com/corporate/tenthings.html
Most Influential Services
TEXT
MULTIMEDIA
Text Resources

Book Search
http://book.google.com

Web Search
http://www.google.com

Scholar
http://scholar.google.com

News
http://news.google.com
News Search
News Search
Impact on Info Profession & Society

Headlines from 4,500+ English-language news
sources worldwide.

Computer-generated site = immediate.

Groups similar stories together.


Selected and ranked by how often and what
sites reporting a story.
Archives are mix of free & pay-per-view.
Web Search
Web Search
Impact on Info Profession & Society
•
One simple interface.
•
Searches many types & info sources quickly.
•
Metadata is pre-collected from documents, and
analyzed & stored in “local indexes.”
•
Searches are not done on-the-fly; results come
from Google’s local index for fast retrieval.
•
Competes with traditional resources for background &
cursory info (e.g. dictionaries, encyclopedias)
Web Search
(Cheat Sheet)
If You Need…
Do This
Definitions
define vodou
Exact phrases
“live and learn”
Calculations
38+71; 978/456; 50 % of 100. etc.
Conversions
35 Celsius in Fahrenheit;
35 dollars in euros
One web site
site:www.libraryjournal.com “reviews”
Keyword in body of text
intext:ebooks
Excluded adult content
Safesearch:breast cancer
Source: Avet, Traci. 2006. “Who’s Afraid of Google?” Library Journal pg 154.
Web Search
(Cheat Sheet continued…)
If You Need…
Do This
Specific date range
polygamy daterange:200601-200605
Related pages
related:www.libraryjournal.com
Book text search
book Animal Farm
Local weather
weather 97301 (zipcode)
Stock quote
stocks:ncesa
Showtimes
movie:Blades of Glory 97304 (zipcode)
Business phone numbers
Bphonebook:Library Journal NY
Source: Avet, Traci. 2006. “Who’s Afraid of Google?” Library Journal pg 154.
Book Search
Book Search
Google Book Search
Impact on Info Profession & Society



3.
Goal… work with publishers and libraries to create a
comprehensive, searchable, virtual card catalog of
all books in all languages that helps users discover
new books.”3
Full view
Limited view
Snippet view
No Preview
= Entire book
= Limited number of pages
= Sentences surrounding search term
= Basic info about book only
Older books are out of copyright; more likely to be
available full text for free.
“About Google Book Search Library Project,”
http://books.google.com/googlebooks/library.html
Google Book Search
Impact on Info Profession & Society (continued)



Search entire book for specific information; like
Amazon’s Look Inside & Search Inside features.
Uses Open WorldCat. Libraries will not appear if they
are not OCLC members.
Is Google Book Search a step toward a general
library catalog interface? Will libraries move away
from local catalogs to regional catalogs?
Google Scholar
Does not limit to specific fields
(e.g. anthropology or botany)
Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Impact on Info Profession & Society
•
Delivers sufficient quantities of relevant & current
research info. Not all scholarly literature.
•
Results link to local library resources.
(e.g. Link Resolver, SFS & Open Worldcat)
•
Searches entire article in most cases.
•
Weak in foreign languages & older literature.
•
Uneven subject coverage.
Google Scholar
Subject Coverage Compared to Other Databases
Subject
Percent
(e.g. GS covers 52% of info ABI/INFORM Global databases)
Multidisciplinary
77%
Science & Medicine
76%
Business
52%
Education
41%
Social Sciences
39%
Humanities
10%
Source: Neuhaus, Chris; Neuhaus, Ellen; Asher, Alan; Wrede, Clint. 2006. “The Depth &
Breadth of Google Scholar: an Empirical Study.” Libraries and the Academy, 6(2):132-33.
Google Scholar
Impact on Info Profession & Society
•
Lag time for uploading current info.
(1-6 months depending on source. E.g. Pubmed)
•
Lacks sophisticate search mechanisms useful
to serious research.
•
Compliments Web of Science & Scopus.
•
Not all results are “scholarly.”
•
Not clear about publisher info, scope of
content, or the depth of the content.
Multimedia Resources

Images
http://images.google.com

Earth
http://earth.google.com

Video
http://video.google.com

Maps
http://maps.google.com
Google Images
Source: http://www.microscopy.fsu.edu/cells/animals/images/animalcell.jpg
Google Images
Impact on Info Profession & Society
•
Increase in demand for multimedia.
•
Most comprehensive image search engine
freely available Online. Covers image
“warehouses” such as Web Shots.
Google Earth
(High Detailed Satellite & Arial Images)
Google Earth
(3-D Imagery)
Google Earth
Impact on Info Profession & Society




Tool for viewing, creating and sharing
location-specific info.
Interactive and visual.
Does not require specialized knowledge;
anyone can use.
Wide variety of info already available; see
coverage in government maps & datasets.
Google Video
Impact on Info Profession & Society
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V36qczYvmI
Google Video
Impact on Info Profession & Society
•
More demand for multimedia, news clips,
short demos, & entertainment.
•
Tool for pushing out personal & social info.
•
Computer animation & 3-D imagery will be
common.
Influence Over Information
•
Encourage digitally born materials & fewer
print resources.
•
Encourage digitization of local collections.
•
Shift rapidly to digital info; info is made more
readily accessible.
•
Expect audio clips in future; could Google
partner with music industry (IPods)?
Influence Over Info Profession
•
Libraries = places of high service: Experts
•
Print collection areas will be repurposed.
•
Push toward “federated” searching in libraries.
•
Professionals need to be aware of these tools.
Do not need to be experts, but recognize
impact on info, profession, & society.
interested in individual needs, provides
knowledgeable aid, expert retrieval of info, personal
relationships. Become high end consulting centers.
Influence Over Society
•
Society trusts Google; provided “reliable” info
& quickly in past.
•
Familiar with Google before entering high
school; continue to use it after graduating.
•
Desire by society for simplicity, broad
coverage & option for powerful searches.
•
Changing how users search, consume, and
view info.
•
Expect info to be immediately available.
Influence Over Society
•
Compromise quality of info for convenience.
•
People do not know or care about copyright.
•
•
Privacy – not guarding personal info.
•
Change how society communicates (Gmail,
IM/SMS).
•
Overwhelmed society; so much info, but what
is relevant?
Questions & Answers
Thank you for attending!
Please send me questions or
comments about this presentation.
John Repplinger
Science Librarian
Willamette University
Mark O. Hatfield Library
jrepplin@willamette.edu