Meta Searching: Trumping Google?

We know it's true — library patrons prefer Google. Usability studies conducted by both librarians and vendors repeatedly confirm that today's library users start with Google to answer their questions—and they often finish there. Like it or not, Google and its competitor search engines have created a model that librarians, as information providers, must meet head on. Some librarians believe that meta-search could be a way to meet the expectations and needs of "the Google generation." This software allows the user to enter keywords in a simple interface and retrieve articles from multiple full-text and bibliographic databases simultaneously.

http://tinyurl.com/pb3j
Library Journal (10/1/2003)

Google's popularity is easy to understand. It's ubiquitous — accessible wherever a searcher can get Internet access. It's simple. Searching with Google is as easy as entering keywords in a single search box. Google has radically changed users' expectations and redefined the experience of those seeking information. For many searchers, the quality of the results matter less than the process — they just expect the process to be quick and easy.

If our users make it to the library's web site at all, chances are they are confronted with library terminology they don't understand and a long list of databases they have to decipher and choose among. In a three-click world, each vendor's database remains a separate silo of information that users don't find. Even if patrons are familiar with searching the OPAC, that won't help them retrieve articles. Library services that require training or require the user to come to the library undermine the advantages of licensing electronic content.

Posted by Tom on October 01, 2003