Uses of Google
January 29th, 2009 Brian HerzogIt's funny when the interweb incidentally produces something this accurate:
Via LibraryStuff.net
or, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Fear and Loathing at a Public Library Reference Desk
Building Better Google Searches
January 13th, 2009 Brian Herzog
Speaking of learning things, Chris sent me a link that lists special strategies and syntax for searching Google more efficiently.
I use a couple of them all the time (especially site:), but I definitely spotted a few that will be extremely helpful:
- +[stop word] - having the plus sign before a "stop word" (such as +not) forces the search to include that word, instead of ignoring it
- inurl: and intitle: - similar to site:, but this limits the search to words just in the web address or title field. Very useful for increasing relevancy on obscure information
- related: - lists websites that are "related" to the domain you search for (ie, related:swissarmylibrarian.net). This seems just oddly interesting, but there has got to be a very good application
The page also gives some great examples of how these can be combined. It's always good to learn how to search smarter, and it's certainly a conversation starter when patrons see me typing in these weird codes and getting better results than they do - always on the lookout for those teaching moments.
Thanks Chris, and to the faculty of the Valencia Community College for compiling the list. There are also other lists, too, but this one was very helpful.
Tags: codes, engine, google, libraries, Library, public, search, searching, syntax, tips, tools, tricks
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Reference Question of the Week – 11/16/08
November 22nd, 2008 Brian Herzog
I'm going to be visiting my family for the week of Thanksgiving, so this will be my last post until I get back. So instead of a regular reference question today, here's a tool people can use when they're asked questions.
It's not just Google, it's let me Google that for you. Of course I would never use this with a patron, but it's "teaching moment" kind of tool, to remind people that Google is good for certain kinds of questions (it's entertaining, but also borders on snarky).
The way it works is this: visit the website and type in the question you were asked - say, What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow? Click the search button, and you get a link to send back to the person who asked you the question, which shows them how they could found the answer themselves.
Just out of curiosity, I thought I'd run a few recent Reference Questions of the Week through it, to see how my answers compared with Google's:
- I was walking in the woods behind my house and found a plaque with this written on it. Can you tell me what it says?
let me Google that for you and my answer
- Do you have Sarah Palin’s street address?
let me Google that for you and my answer
- Do you have a copy of Tuesday’s ballot?
let me Google that for you and my answer
- I’ve never used a computer before, so can you help me find a job on craigslist?
let me Google that for you and my answer
- Can I schedule a meeting at the library?
let me Google that for you and my answer
- I’m looking for someone to drive my kids.
let me Google that for you and my answer
Google will not replace librarians, because librarians help people in was that Google can't. And by the way, there is a similar website, but it has a bad word in the URL. Thanks, Chris.
Tags: answers, google, internet, let me google that for you, letmegooglethatforyou, libraries, Library, public
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Reference Question of the Week – 4/27/08
May 3rd, 2008 Brian Herzog
One of thing I love about my job is the absurd way unlikely resources sometimes need to be cobbled together to answer a question.
A patron called the desk asking for the phone number of a laundromat/cleaners in town. She knew it was just down the street from the library, and I pass it every day, but neither one of us could remember the name.
It was lunch time at the library, so there are no coworkers around to ask. I checked the yellow pages under laundromat, cleaners and dry cleaners, but the only businesses listed were not at the address we're looking for. I tried a few internet searches for "laundromat chelmsford" and the like, but had no immediate luck.
If there was another person to cover the desk, I would have just walked up the street and called her back with the information. But it was this thought - seeing the sign from the street - that gave me the brilliant idea of trying Google Street View.
I typed the Library's address into Google Maps, switched over to Street View, and then walked the little yellow man up the block to the laundromat. From this view, I could make out the name of the business (actually, I got lucky and their van was parked in the lot), and from there I could look them up in the white pages.
The patron was not only happy to get the phone number, but amazed at hearing about Street View for the first time. She was so interested that we stayed on the phone for another five minutes while I explained what it was, how it worked, and how she could get to it on her own.
Interesting postscript to this story:
The Chelmsford Library is located on an "island" between two one-way streets. However, this is poorly marked, and I sometimes see non-local cars going the wrong direction. Apparently, whoever was driving the Google photo car is also not from around here. By rotating the Street View down to see the car itself, you can tell by the side mirrors that it's driving the wrong direction - but best of all, you can follow the car's hasty U-turn in the library staff parking lot. Happily this did not cause an accident, but I'm surprised Google publishes photographic evidence of its drivers breaking traffic laws.
Tags: business name, google, libraries, Library, lookup, maps, phone numnber, public, Reference Question, street view
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New Google Feature?
March 6th, 2008 Brian Herzog
When I use Google to find information, I often use the "site" limiter to improve the returns.
For instance, when looking for information on the new economic stimulus tax rebate thing, a search for "tax rebate site:irs.gov" gives much more direct information than does just searching for "tax rebate." Which is great if you know the domain to which you'd like to limit your search, but yesterday, I didn't.
Someone was looking for information on the James Madison dollar coin, and the U.S. Mint website seemed the most logical place to look for it. However, I didn't know the Mint's domain name. So before my usual site-specific search, I first searched for "us mint" to get the domain, and then I was going to run a second search limited to that domain.
But Google is one step ahead of me (I don't know if this is a new feature or if I just never noticed it before): my search for U.S. Mint returned the Mint's website as the first result, and the listing included a site search built right in to the search result (see picture).
Neat. And it saves me a step. Searching there for "james madison dollar" gave exactly what the patron was looking for as the first result.
I'm generally skeptical of Google as a company for hording private data, but they do have smart people working there.
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Book Review Search
August 9th, 2007 Brian HerzogTags: book, book review, book review search, book reviews, Books, google, google custom search, Library, public libraries, public library, reader advisory, readers advisory, review, reviews
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