Going Beyond Google

1. Going Beyond Google Marydee Ojala Editor, ONLINE: The Leading Magazine for Information Professionals DFID 2006

2. Agenda • Googlization of Online • Other Web Search Engines • Search Syntax • Compare with Traditional Online • What We Can Expect in the Future DFID 2006

3. What Does Online Mean • Librarians were the early adopters of online technology • “Our” online predates the Internet and the personal computer • So why don’t our users know about our online search skills? • We have got to show we’re better than Google DFID 2006

4. Out Googling • We need to Out Google Google • Prove our worth • Make libraries, information centers, and information professionals relevant both in reality and in the eyes of our users and those who fund us DFID 2006

5. Googlization of Online • Online = Search = Google • John Battelle’s book • But search engines don’t do what libraries do DFID 2006

6. Into the GYM • Google • Still the most popular search engine • Yahoo! • Gaining on Google • MSN (now Live Search) • Love them or hate them, it’s Microsoft DFID 2006

7. Important Alternatives • Ask (Jeeves retired) • Now owned by Barry Diller (IAC) • Exalead • Developed in France, now has US office • A9 • Part of Amazon • Gigablast • Added blog search DFID 2006

8. Whatever Happened To.. • AltaVista • AllTheWeb • WiseNut • Teoma • Northern Light DFID 2006

9. Non-English Search Engines • Search Engine Colossus • Canadian • Last checked in March 2006 • http://www.searchenginecolossus.com/ • Phil Bradley • British • Last checked in August 2005 • http://www.philb.com/countryse.htm DFID 2006

10. Vertical Search Engines • FirstGov.gov • Answers.com • Scopus.com, Scirus.com • Topix.net • Oodle.com • GlobalSpec.com • GYM verticals DFID 2006

11. Metasearch Engines • Vivisimo (now Clusty.com) • Cluster technology • Creating verticals • Dogpile • Infospace • GYMA • Mamma.com • Trovando.it DFID 2006

12. Vertical Metasearch Engines • Kayak • Clusty DFID 2006

13. Visual Search • Groxis’ Grokker • EBSCO • Kartoo • Touchgraph DFID 2006

14. Search Syntax • Implied Boolean AND • OR • Minus sign for NOT • Exact phrase • NEAR • Intervening words • Prefixes DFID 2006

15. Field Searching • Advanced search boxes • Look at syntax and put into search box • Limitations to field searching DFID 2006

16. Going Beyond Google At Google • Advanced search • Tabs (only they aren’t tabs anymore) • Clicking on More • Synonym feature not working properly • Link feature not robust DFID 2006

17. DFID 2006

18. Going Beyond Google with Other Search Engines • Each search engine has a different database • Good ways to compare: • Twingine.com • Jux2.com • Thumbshots (ranking.thumbshots.com) • Not everything is on the Internet • Not everything can be found via Web search engines DFID 2006

19. What Else Web Search Engines Do • Localization (competition with Yellow Pages?) • Personalization (does this work for libraries?) • Numeric (calculations, U.S. phone numbers) • Shortcuts (flights, package tracking) DFID 2006

20. More Offerings from Search Engines • Doodles & Jokes (particularly Google, but Yahoo has a sense of humor) • News, Alerting (Yahoo, Google) • Books (find in a library) (Google, Yahoo) • Scholarly Literature (Google, MSN) DFID 2006

21. Search Engine or Portal? • Yahoo Finance • Google Finance DFID 2006

22. Web Search or Sources • Sometimes it’s better to go to a specific source than to do a Web search • InvestorWords versus define: DFID 2006

23. Going Beyond Web Search • The hidden Web is not as hidden as it used to be • Lots more formats than HTML • Moving into blogs, audio, video, images DFID 2006

24. Blogs • Personal opinions, diaries, essays, news analysis • Blog search engines: • Technorati, Ice Rocket • Blogger, Bloglines • Added to Yahoo News Search, then removed • No search engine is complete DFID 2006

25. Tags • User-supplied “indexing” • Folksonomies • Can be easily searched at Technorati • Inconsistent, uncontrolled DFID 2006

26. Podcasts • Listening in to information • Podcast search engines: • Podzinger (BBN), Podscope (TVEyes), Singingfish, Podcastalley • How do they search? • Often better to go directly to the source DFID 2006

27. Video Search • Google and Yahoo are experimenting with video (YouTube acquisition) • Letting users upload their own • Social networking model at other sites • Singingfish • Blinkx • How they search: metadata or speech recognition DFID 2006

28. Search Engine Optimization • Manipulating search results • Organic • How does this affect search results • How do paid search results display • Do end users understand DFID 2006

29. Traditional Online Search Engines • EBSCOhost • ProQuest • Factiva • Nexis • Dialog DFID 2006

30. EBSCOhost • Visualization • Clustering DFID 2006

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34. Factiva • Tag clouds • Graphs DFID 2006

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41. Online 2.0? Or 3.0? • How are traditional engines evolving? • Clustered results • Visualization, “delisting” • Making data work harder • Ending “siloization” DFID 2006

42. The Future • Is always hard to predict • Will Google continue to be synonymous with search? • Will Yahoo! catch up? • Will Ask join the gym? • Where do libraries and librarians fit? DFID 2006

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46. Contact Details • Marydee Ojala • marydee@xmission.com • www.onlinemag.net DFID 2006