Google reigns?

[Suzanne Staub]

I am new to this forum. I am a teacher-librarian at a private secondary school in Durban, South Africa and because we are a private school are fortunate to have excellent resources at our disposal including a fast Internet connection and computers available to all students. My question is this: Our children do not use the print resources we provide unless they are co-erced and print sources are required as part of a project. We cannot afford to subscribe to data bases such as Ebsco and even if we did I am not sure they would be used. It is Google every time. Are we fighting a rearguard action when we try and teach information skills, fight cut and paste, encourage advanced search techniques and all the other things we do to promote effective research and real learning? I often feel like King Canute trying to stop the tide coming in although this time it’s a tsunami!

[Kate McCarron]

I wonder if your local library offers access to Databases?  I had a teacher who was very supportive.  We introduced databases and also website evaluation.  If a student chooses a web site for their research project, they have to additionally fill out a form validating its validity.  Since they don't want to do this extra step many of the students have chosen to use a database instead!

[Suzanne Staub]

Thank you for your helpful answer. Until now, databases have been unaffordable for individual schools but it seems that that may be changing and I have been doing some research since your post. Your suggestion about the form is excellent and I am sure it will make a difference.

[Ellen Cothran]

Hey there.  I'm at an independent school as well.  Keep up the good fight!  There's a lot you can do without databases, and yes, it's well worth the struggle from this colleague's point of view.  Please forgive me if I'm giving you stuff you're well aware of, but here are some options I use:

• SweetSearch - web pages gathered by researchers and experts
• ipl2 (Internet Public Library) - a project begun by SLIS students at Univ. of Michigan, it's an internet research portal organized by subject, age group, etc.  It includes pathfinders for certain (some American-based) topics.  All the sites have been vetted by ipl librarians.  There's also a wonderful "Ask a Librarian" service for when the kids are away from you and need help.
• Ask the teachers to pleeeeeeease require that the kids find sources through these aggregaters.
• There's a fantastic new TED talk about just how restricted Google searches really are.  Basically, Facebook News, Yahoo News, and Google all show you what you "want" to see, not what's just out there on the web.  I recommend it very very highly for students and especially for teachers.  Here's the direct link:  http://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles.html.
• Our national Library of Congress has a great, free Virtual Reference Shelf...might your gov't provide the same thing?
• One more small thing, when I get the chance to work with kids about choosing scholarly websites, I've come to emphasize that trusting .edu domain sites without question really isn't the best choice.  Our students keep coming up with work that's in university domains but is actually written by undergrads for their classes. 

Best wishes with your struggle.  It's worth every minute and every drop of sweat, otherwise the kids unwittingly become dependent on the whim of marketers to show them what information is out there.

 

Take care,

Ellen