How Google Works; Are Search Engines Really Dumb and Should Educators Care?

Google is like air; your students use Google every day but do they know how it works and ranks results? This “real life literacy session” will explain the factors that determine a webpage’s Google ranking and those factors that students can control to return the best results

Advanced Web Searching for Educators

Progress beyond keyword searching in Google; teach your students a real life literacy skill; learn to use Boolean operators and Google’s advanced search features to search the title field and to limit results to a single top level domain like .gov. With your instruction, they will be better researchers

Extending information retrieval system model to improve interactive web searching.

The research set out with the broad objective of developing new tools to support Web information searching. A survey showed that a substantial number of interactive search tools were being developed but little work on how these new developments fitted into the general aim of helping people find information. Due to this it proved difficult to compare and analyse how tools help and affect users and where they belong in a general scheme of information search tools. A key reason for a lack of better information searching tools was identified in the ill-suited nature of existing information retrieval system models. The traditional information retrieval model is extended by synthesising work in information retrieval and information seeking research. The purpose of this new holistic search model is to assist information system practitioners in identifying, hypothesising, designing and evaluating Web information searching tools. Using the model, a term relevance feedback tool called ‘Tag and Keyword’ (TKy) was developed in a Web browser and it was hypothesised that it could improve query reformulation and reduce unnecessary browsing. The tool was laboratory experimented and quantitative analysis showed statistical significances in increased query reformulations and in reduced Web browsing (per query). Subjects were interviewed after the experiment and qualitative analysis revealed that they found the tool useful and saved time. Interestingly, exploratory analysis on collected data identified three different methods in which subjects had utilised the TKy tool. The research developed a holistic search model for Web searching and demonstrated that it can be used to hypothesise, design and evaluate information searching tools. Information system practitioners using it can better understand the context in which their search tools are developed and how these relate to users’ search processes and other search tools

Optimum curriculum for effective digital management of cultural heritage: The Uganda perspective

LIS Education curriculum in Uganda is as old as the East African School of Library and Information Science (EASLIS) which started producing Information Professionals (IPs) since 1963. This paper probes whether Uganda LIS Education Curriculum currently offered by EASLIS is capable of graduating IPs specialized in digitization. It is premised on the hypothesis that an optimum curriculum is key to Digital Library Education in producing IPs to spearhead effective digitization management. Ma, O’Brien and Clegg (2006:165-174) concur that Digital Library Education (DLE) has assumed increasing importance. Sreenivasulu (2000: 12-20) agrees that the best IPs to implement digitization, are those “combining librarianship and technology”

Recognizing Topic Change in Search Sessions of Digital Libraries based on Thesaurus and Classification System

Log analysis in Web search showed that user sessions often contain several different topics. This means sessions need to be segmented into parts which handle the same topic in order to give appropriate user support based on the topic, and not on a mixture of topics. Different methods have been proposed to segment a user session to different topics based on timeouts, lexical analysis, query similarity or external knowledge sources. In this paper, we study the problem in a digital library for the social sciences. We present a method based on a thesaurus and a classification system which are typical knowledge organization systems in digital libraries. Five experts evaluated our approach and rated it as good for the segmentation of search sessions into parts that treat the same topic

The Developing Legal Infrastructure and the Globalization of Information: Constructing a Framework for Critical Choices in the New Millennium Internet -- Character, Content and Confusion

This paper reviews recent attempts to extend traditional property rights and other information controls and regulations into new media, such as cyberspace, primarily the World Wide Web. It reviews developments in copyright, trademark, trademark dilution, misappropriation, trespass, censorship, tort, privacy and other legal doctrines as they are reflected in recent United States case law and legislation, and to a lesser extent, in international agreements. Legal problems often arise because there is a conflict of viewpoints in how to best characterize space on the Internet, specifically the World Wide Web. Some argue that traditional ownership rights should apply, or perhaps a model of limited property rights, which assumes an implied license to trespass or move within that space, e.g., to visit or to link to another website. Others believe that private ordering systems, like contract law, should dominate the negotiation of information boundaries. Still, others see the Internet as the last open frontier, or at least, as the last green space or commons. This debate is assessed in light of several implications for information in the new millennium, i.e.,the post-national era, as it is naive to assume that simply because borders may dissolve or boundaries may expand through technology, that information access and equity will also naturally increase

The information-related behaviour of emerging artists and designers Inspiration and guidance for new practitioners

Purpose – This paper aims to report an empirical study of the information-related behaviour of emerging artists and designers. It also aims to add to understanding of the information behaviour of the group both as practising artists (a little understood category of information users), and also as “new practitioners”. Design/methodology/approach – A literature analysis is used to guide creation of an online questionnaire, eliciting both qualitative and quantitative data. A total of 78 practising artists participated, all having graduated in the seven years prior to the survey. Findings – The group have generally the same information practices as more established artists. They place reliance on internet and social networks, while also using traditional printed tools and libraries. Browsing is important, but not a predominant means of accessing information. Inspiration is found from a very diverse and idiosyncratic set of sources, often by serendipitous means. Their status as emergent practitioners means that their information behaviour is governed by cost factors, and by needs for career advice and interaction with peers. Research limitations/implications – The study group are a convenience sample, all having access to the internet. No observation or interviews were carried out. Practical implications – The results will provide guidance to academic and public librarians serving artist users, and to those providing career advice to them. It will also be valuable to those providing services to “new practitioners” in any field. Originality/value – This is one of a very few papers reporting empirical studies of the information behaviour of artists, and has the largest sample size of any such study. It is one of a very few papers considering the information needs and behaviour of new practitioners

Credibility of Health Information and Digital Media: New Perspectives and Implications for Youth

Part of the Volume on Digital Media, Youth, and Credibility. This chapter considers the role of Web technologies on the availability and consumption of health information. It argues that young people are largely unfamiliar with trusted health sources online, making credibility particularly germane when considering this type of information. The author suggests that networked digital media allow for humans and technologies act as "apomediaries" that can be used to steer consumers to high quality health information, thereby empowering health information seekers of all ages