Cheryl LaGuardia

Connecting with Researchers, or, Will You Have Google with That Search?
July 25, 2007

I had a conversation with an online publisher recently who told me s/he (oh, yeah, I’m keeping their identity completely confidential – read on) doesn’t care what librarians think about her/his products, s/he cares about what users and researchers think about and want from them.

After I picked myself up off the floor (such honesty is, uh, refreshing these days) I had to agree – it is what researchers want -- and will use – that is important, at least on some levels. Libraries can spend money obtaining (or obtaining access to, a very different thing and not a trivial one) online resources, but if these resources are:

a. difficult to identify and find,

b. difficult to access,

and/or

c. difficult to use…

WHAT’S THE POINT, if researchers don’t use them?

I’m glad to hear that publisher talk about meeting the needs of the researcher, more than the librarian, because I think libraries still haven’t figured out how to sell library wares effectively to some clients. Back in 1994, I co-authored an article with Joe Boissé that decried the fact that, “Many library systems are, even now, being designed from the vantage point of computer wizards and librarians.” Thirteen years later, I think it’s safe to say we still haven’t achieved the “information magic” Joe and I were looking for back then, even with a host of databases with simplified search interfaces.

But there is a present day product that's close to "information magic," and that is Google Scholar. More and more online publishers tell me they are pursuing relationships with Google Scholar (or have just inked an agreement) and I’m happy to hear it. I know it may not be the optimal research source, I know libraries offer much more than what’s available in Google Scholar, or just what’s online, or just what can be located through online resources – BUT – Google Scholar does offer a faster, easier, more comprehensible beginning research option than many other online tools, and it does connect beginning researchers to respectable, scholarly material.

I sometimes use Google Scholar as a hook in my library instruction sessions. Some students know about Google Scholar when I talk with them; all of them know Google. I begin by pointing them to the library’s authenticated link to Google Scholar, and show them how they can get the full-text for many articles free, rather than paying for them with a credit card. THAT gets their attention, and they note down the URL. After I hook them in, I show them the other incredible content that’s available to them online via specialized databases – and they take it from there, exploring and using the highly sophisticated and rich online resources the library makes available to them. At that point, they get it. But first I get their attention by showing them something in a context they understand, like, and trust -- and Google Scholar provides that context. Research takes time and effort, but connecting researchers to scholarly material quickly, and as painlessly as possible, is something Google Scholar does well. I'm a fan.

More as it happens,

Cheryl

Posted by Cheryl LaGuardia on July 25, 2007 | Comments (0)