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Assessing Google as a Teaching & Research Tool

Google also caches the results of its searches. ... In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, ...

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Assessing Google as a Teaching & Research Tool

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  1. Assessing Google as a Teaching & Research Tool Dennis G. JerzSeton Hill UniversityTeaching & Learning Forum31 Jan 2005http://jerz.setonhill.edu/resources/google

  2. Quick Links • Basic use of Google • Keywords • Quotations Marks • Advanced Search Tips • Obscure but Nifty • Extended Features • Much More on Googlehttp://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Google.html

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

  4. Overview • Background and Basics • Advanced Search Tips • Special Extended Features

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

  6. 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”

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

  8. How Google Works • Brute Strength • Caching the Internet • PageRank Algorithm

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

  10. 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.

  11. Cache Issues • Cache can be out of date • Material removed from the internet may be available via Google’s cache for days or months • This can be good (if a site is briefly down) • …or bad (if you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)

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

  13. 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 Technology

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

  15. Manipulating PageRank • miserable failure • Jew • Google’s explanation • “google bombing”

  16. Inherent Geek Bias • Search Google for apple • Context: googling for groceries? • Geek bias is real • expected • manageable

  17. Teaching Implications: Sufficing • Sufficing: Natural Human Behavior • Even experts not good at rejecting “good enough” for “better” • Compare: Google: Internet AddictionGoogle: Internet Addiction Disorder

  18. Advanced Search Tips • Wildcards: “to * or not to *” • Synonyms “seton hill” ~sports see: ~violence; ~mohammed, ~jesus • Domain searchdean site:blogs.setonhill.edu • Number ranges: robots 1900..1950 • Definitions: define holocaust

  19. Obscure, But Still Nifty Just type into the Google search box • calculator: "134 + 353" • airplane tracker: "united 103" • measurement converter: "three teaspoons"

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

  21. 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, 2001. • Much has changed: Google News

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

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

  24. Google Scholar Explanation • Scientific Bias: Derrida: Physicist Bernard beats out philosopher Jacques. (Credit: Mike Arnzen) • 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.

  25. 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.

  26. Google Scholar Case Study • Google: Internet Addiction Disorder • Google Scholar:Internet Addiction Disorder • Google: Internet Addiction • Google Scholar: Internet Addiction

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