Hmmm,
It has been some time since I used Amazon's advanced search
features...but I do know that it can be infuriating to try and limit a
search once I've done a search (not to mention a seeming lack of
"authority control" when I search for non-book products and start
browsing by brand).
I am the only librarian at my location, I have a co-worker who claims
he is the King of "quick and dirty" and I am the Queen of "do it
right". We just don't always see eye to eye on the best way to go
about finding something but we often learn from each other. One day,
I took his information need and came back with a list of books (from
area libraries) that would fit that need. He was blown away, as he
had been focusing his search on the visible web. But I still can't
get him to search a library catalog his information need (sometimes I
have luck with databases, since they are more likely to fill his "need
it now" mindset).
Do users use Amazon first because they feel it is a better tool or
because it is the tool that is more heavily marketed? How much do
they care about sorting through the excessive hits they sometimes get?
How many are happy with the "quick and dirty" and the library tools
just aren't seen as quick enough?
Micaela
On 6/12/06, Laura Akerman <liblna_at_emory.edu> wrote:
> I think users of Amazon and Google put up with trawling through a lot of
> unhelpful results because they use those services for other reasons
> (comprehensiveness, "ranking", free content), and that's the best "search"
> those services can provide right now - but that will change.
Received on Mon Jun 12 2006 - 18:32:14 EDT