Assessing Google as a Teaching & Research Tool Dennis G. Jerz Seton Hill University Teaching & Learning Forum 31 Jan

Quick Links Basic use of Google  Keywords Keywords  Quotations Marks Quotations Marks Advanced Search Tips Obscure but Nifty Extended Features Much More on Google

Google: more underused than understood. At an information literacy conference, I asked a group of librarians how they thought Google worked.information literacy conference …counting links? …counting clicks on links?

Overview Background and Basics Advanced Search Tips Special Extended Features

Background and Basics Using Google: Keywords and Quotation Marks How Google Works: Brute Strength, Caches, and PageRank

Using Google Google’s home page is uncluttered and ad-free (compare to Yahoo! or MSN). Keywords: by default, uses Boolean “AND” seton hill = seton AND hill this + way up = forces inclusion of “this”

Quotation Marks Enclose a term in quotation marks for an exact match seton hill = matches terms anywhere “seton hill” = matches this exact phrase

How Google Works Brute Strength Caching the Internet PageRank Algorithm

Brute Strength Banks of ordinary PCs (not supercomputers) Multiple, geographically separate networks Inexpensive to maintain or replace Does not run Windows – saves $$

Caches Google does not search the live internet. Google stores a copy of the pages – faster than going live. Google also caches the results of its searches. Spidering – a “web crawler” follows links, searching for updated content.

Cache Issues Cache can be out of date Material removed from the internet may be available via Google’s cache for days or months  This can be good (if a site is briefly down)  …or bad (if you want to remove potentially libelous content)

PageRank Google uses incoming links to rank its search results But Google also evaluates each of those incoming links

Google Explains Itself In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves "important" weigh more heavily and help to make other pages "important." -- Google TechnologyGoogle Technology

Google is not Foolproof Historical example: Searching for “seton hill university” used to return the message, Did you mean ‘seton hall university’?”

Manipulating PageRank miserable failure Jew  Google’s explanation Google’s explanation  “google bombing”google bombing

Inherent Geek Bias Search Google for appleapple Context: googling for groceries? Geek bias is real  expected  manageable

Teaching Implications: Sufficing Sufficing: Natural Human Behavior Even experts not good at rejecting “good enough” for “better” Compare: Google: Internet Addiction Google: Internet Addiction DisorderInternet AddictionInternet Addiction Disorder

Advanced Search Tips Wildcards: “to * or not to *”“to * or not to *” Synonyms “seton hill” ~sports see: ~violence; ~mohammed, ~jesus“seton hill” ~sports~violence~mohammed~jesus Domain search dean site:blogs.setonhill.edudean site:blogs.setonhill.edu Number ranges: robots robots Definitions: define holocaustdefine holocaust

Obscure, But Still Nifty Just type into the Google search box calculator: " " calculator airplane tracker: "united 103"united 103 measurement converter: "three teaspoons"three teaspoons

Special Extended Features news.google.com images.google.com scholar.google.com

Google News (Historical Context) “People who are savvy about how the Internet works don't even try to find breaking news on the Net.” – Richard W. Wiggins “The Effects of September 11 on the Leading Search Engine.” First Monday 6:10 (2001). Published 1 Oct, Much has changed: Google NewsGoogle News

Google News (Demo) “seton hill” construction “seton hill university” Our student paper, The Setonian is one of several thousand of sites indexed

Google Images (Demo) images.google.com Returns saled-down “thumbnails” Images classified by adjacent keywords seton hill hippocampus pygmalion and galatea

Google Scholar Explanation Scientific Bias: Derrida: Physicist Bernard beats out philosopher Jacques. (Credit: Mike Arnzen)Derrida Uneven results. “Jerz, DG” and “Jerz, Dennis G.” are considered different authors.) Automated: If it looks like a citation, Google Scholar treats it like one.

Teaching Implications: Google Scholar Google Scholar is likely to frustrate and confuse the average student.  Many sources are offline.  Searches not filtered by subject.  Student papers get into the system. More exclusive than ordinary Google.

Google Scholar Case Study Google: Internet Addiction DisorderInternet Addiction Disorder Google Scholar: Internet Addiction DisorderInternet Addiction Disorder Google: Internet AddictionInternet Addiction Google Scholar: Internet AddictionInternet Addiction