Janet Hill wrote:
> of "is bread bad for coots?" Then again .... I detest the natural language
> question form of online inquiry, so I probably wouldn't have done a search
> that way anyway.
>
Interesting to me that you have such a strong reaction to the "natural
language question form of online inquiry"? Might I ask why you "detest"
it? Because it has not been successful for you in the past ? For other
reasons?
[It has not generally for me either, although I'm not sure that past
lack of success leads me to such a strong emotion as detesting! But
that's just me. As long as we're in the middle of personal disclosure, I
have recently noticed that I'm personally pretty awful at Google
searches. I'm not sure why, I used to think I was good at them. Not sure
if I was always self-deluded, or if as Google's contents and techniques
have changed my former intuitive techniques have grown useless. But
these days, when I can't find something on Google, I often ask a
colleague to take a look and the colleague finds it right away. I'm not
sure why! But indeed I would not normally try a 'natural language
search' on Google, I would like to think that at best, I would have
tried something like "coots bread harm" on Google--that one gives me a
hit that tells me coots "will" eat bread, but doesn't specifically say
if it's good for them or not, beyond trying to discourage park-goers
from feeding the coots anything at all! ]
So many interesting topics end up hanging off the situation presented by
Martha, so thanks to Martha for presenting it.
Jonathan
> janet
>
> Janet Swan Hill, Professor
> Associate Director for Technical Services
> University of Colorado Libraries, CB184
> Boulder, CO 80309
> janet.hill_at_colorado.edu
> *****
> Tradition is the handing-on of Fire, and not the worship of Ashes.
> - Gustav Mahler
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Next generation catalogs for libraries
> [mailto:NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu] On Behalf Of Noakes, Erica A
> Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 7:13 AM
> To: NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu
> Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] Another Google Adventure
>
> Hi from Tasmania
>
> When I asked Google "can I feed coots bread?", which was really what Martha
> wanted to know, rather than 'what do they eat?' my first google doc said:
> "Bread does not contain all the nutrients that these wild birds need, so try
> feeding them grass and seeds instead." and although it was referring to wild
> birds more generally it mentioned coots as well
>
> My third google document said:
>
> "Coots feed mainly on vegetable matter but will eat food scraps given by
> Garden visitors"
>
> I think someone mentioned in this thread previously that it depends on how
> you ask the question - I would say that you need to be specific. Google is
> clever, but it doesnt read minds ... yet!!
>
> Erica
>
> Erica Noakes
> Library Technician (Digitial Archiving)
> Our Digital Island
> State Library of Tasmania
> http://odi.statelibrary.tas.gov.au/
> <https://outlook.education.tas.gov.au/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://odi.s
> tatelibrary.tas.gov.au/>
> 91 Murray Street
> Hobart TAS 7000
> Email: erica.noakes_at_education.tas.gov.au
> Phone No 6233-7586
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: Next generation catalogs for libraries on behalf of Selden Deemer
> Sent: Thu 31/01/2008 12:36 AM
> To: NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu
> Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] Another Google Adventure
>
>
>
> Martha Yee <myee_at_UCLA.EDU> writes:
>
> ...When I got home, I typed in to Google's famous search box
> "what do coots eat?" The reply that came back was a web site
> entitled "What do eagles eat?" In the list of eagle edibles
> was coots.
>
> In LCSH, the heading Coots--Food would give you perfect recall
> and precision for monographs wholly about what coots eat, if
> there were any....
>
> Unfortunately, Google undermines your argument. For a Google
> search on "coots food" the first hit is:
>
> American Coot - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> American Coot foraging for food. American Coot foraging for food.
> These birds can dive for food but can also forage on land. ...
> en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Coot - 26k - Cached - Similar pages -
>
> From the Wikipedia article:
>
> They are omnivorous, eating plant material, insects, fish, and
> other aquatic animals.
>
> Not that I consider Wikipedia an authoritative source...
>
> --
> Selden Deemer, Library Systems Administrator
> Emory University Libraries
> Atlanta, Georgia
> EMAIL: libssd_at_emory.edu
> PHONE: 404-727-0271
> FAX: 404-727-0827
>
>
>
>
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--
Jonathan Rochkind
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The Sheridan Libraries
Johns Hopkins University
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Received on Wed Jan 30 2008 - 14:12:03 EST