Reading #4

Reading #4
“The Infodiet: How Libraries Can Offer an Appetizing Alternative to Google”
Steven Bell

This article is about an ongoing feud between libraries and Google. It is understandable that librarians are upset in the decrease of people visiting and utilizing libraries because what is the point of a library if no one is going to use it?
I am not going to lie, I would rather search Google to find information because it is more convenient than driving to campus and paying a parking meter/worrying about a parking ticket. Another factor in determining if I am going to the library or using Google is the information I am searching. Finding information on technology is much easier to find on the Internet than go look for a book in the library because a lot of technology is “newer” and there might not be a book about it! However, you will find great information in the libraries databases, which you can access from home.
I think in order for libraries to increase student’s use of the library databases, the companies who create them should look to a more user-friendly search mechanism as the article mentions. Yes, the current search methods are confusing to the user who does not access the databases often and as the author mentions, most of the interfaces are different. The “RedLightGreen” project sounds like a great idea because if all databases had the same/similar search bars, then I think more students would try to utilize them. If it was not for LIB103 then I would not use the libraries databases because I did not know the right way to search with them. One way I think we could get students to use the databases more frequently is require a LIB103 class!