Librarians versus Google: An Ongoing Drama

Here is an interesting blog post which states what librarians are for versus what Google is for:

http://philbradley.typepad.com/phil_bradleys_weblog/2011/06/what-librarians-google-are-for.html

That's not to say that we librarians don't use Google. Far from it actually. I use it frequently...for quick facts and similar. I also use it for a jumping off point for research projects. Notice I don't say that I necessarily use the items I locate. I'll take the references, if provided, and look them up in the library's O(nline) P(ublic) A(ccess) C(atalog) and I(ntegrated) (Library) S(ystem), which most of the time yields the information I need, rather than slogging through pages of irrelevant information that Google provides. Sure, you can probably find something on the first page, but does it pass the CRAAP test?

Regardless of the above information, there is still one major problem with OPAC's: users quickly get frustrated with them. Unless they are familiar with search terms and even how to search, they switch to search engines to fill their information need, and risk being the victim of information overload, even potentially wandering away from what it is you started out researching. Don't lie, you know this happened more than once ;)

Like I said, I'm not opposed to Google, and I have even made peace with Wikipedia...mostly. When I need to dig into some serious research, though, there is nothing like what the library creates.