Print vs.Non

Print vs. non-print
In her introduction to reference services in Chapter 10, Riedling says that answer seeking has not ended but the process has changed. She states that there are two basic dimensions to compare print to electronic resources:
1. Unlimited storage capacity
2. Ability to select what is needed
If we just look at the first dimension, it is difficult to argue that it is possible to house the amount of information now found on the web in print form. The information is more current on line and it is possible to locate information on any question you might have. It is now an accepted part of our language that if someone wants to know something just Google it.
So the difficulty for the school library media specialist becomes how to help students access information efficiently and to part the waters so to speak to find the answers to questions they might have or information they need.
On page 102 of the Riedling text there is an exercise on search engines. Not knowing too much about the different sites, I decided to have a look.
www.dogpile.com
Searched for Alexander Graham Bell.
Just as the name implies it is a metasearch engine with entries or articles from Google, Yahoo, Live Search, Ask.com, Looksmart and more.
The first thing I noticed is that there are at least 4 advertisements before you even see the results of your search.
The first entry is from Wikipedia and then you have the other results. It does have a section on the right hand side “Are you looking for…?’ which I found helpful.
Dogpile was named top consumer search engine for 2007 and it uses Metasearch special technology to remove duplicates of searches completed.
Ask Jeeves now called www.ask.com
It has a simple background and not too many choices and is very simple to use. It offers information first with no advertising. Smaller database than Google or Yahoo with over 2 billion documents on the web.
It was voted one of the “coolest” websites by Time Magazine in 2004.
Ask.com also offers choices about where to go e.g. official sites, encyclopedias, news and blogs, etc. You need to keep your searches simple to access these options.
It also offered suggestions as I typed the name and then I was able to highlight the one I wanted which speeds up the process.
www.lycos.com

Lycos is similar to Dogpile in that it accessed 6 websites. It was one of the earliest search engines and was established in 1995. I found this one too busy. The sections were small with games and lots of advertising which was also similar to Dogpile.
If I was using this sort of search engine with students, I would probably at this point use www.askkids.com. It has good answers for simple questions. It is safe for students at the elementary age and also has games and news sites appropriate for specific age groups.
It also has links to other resources such as Study Tools- Dictionary, Biography, Science, Atlas, Math Help, History and more which would be helpful for further reference on related topics or for ready reference.
While I was examining and looking for comparisons of search engines, I found this site which is a Library workshop information site and it contains some Web Page Evaluation sheets which might come in handy at a later date.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Handouts.html



Riedling says that it is not technology that is important but the sense of connection between individuals and groups. It still amazes me how quickly information is posted on the web. Whether this is a positive aspect or not only time will tell. We do know that the information is so vast we can’t possibly know what is there. So the challenge to find information and the lack of standardization of that information requires the t-l to spend a great deal of time and energy to ensure that students become efficient information seekers.
I agree with Reidling that we must embrace the changes in Technology. It is, however, our mission to seek out the appropriate resources so that the needs of the student can be met. For some students this may mean they need print materials rather than electronic. The point is to answer the question. I am becoming more convinced though that the starting place is print first. Once the student has some background knowledge and has refined his/her question then expanding the search becomes more realistic. I have seen more computer classes wasted and more student frustration because the students can’t find what they want. It is time consuming to search for information and some of the sites are hard to navigate. This is where the job of the t-l becomes more important-teaching the students to access information efficiently.
It was interesting to talk to students about their preferences between print and electronic resources. Last year the t-l had an exercise where some students looked for info using internet and some used the books in library. Some of the internet users were frustrated and didn’t complete the task. Book users for that assignment were more successful. But I wondered at the same time was the assignment designed to illustrate this?? Were the groups given the same task? I thought it was set up for the students with books to be successful because this was the bias of the t-l.