Google Search: Needle in the Haystack Essay

Searching for information on Google is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Is that true? Was the library of the 19th century more efficient? Explain. We have access to more references in less time by searching for information on Google versus using an index card system in the 19th century library. A historical example is the traditional card catalog in a library, which essentially did not contain any raw data itself, but instead had a series of cards organized alphabetically so that each card pointed the user to a book that might contain the information for which he or she was searching. Much more common today are the metadata in Web sites that encode data so that the user can identify and retrieve desired information. (Bowles 2010). In this statement, libraries depended on an alphabetical card system to direct researchers to resources and references to possibly attain the information they were looking for. Once they found the books or encyclopedias they were looking for, they would still have to manually skim through to see if the information was sufficient to their search. With Google were able to type in exactly what we’re looking for and have immediate results. Google is like a virtual everything encyclopedia that has answers for everything. The more specific you enter your search the more specific your result will be. The only downside is having to decipher which searches are reliable and accurate on Google because of all the websites that allow people to add input and personal opinions versus just factual information. How is searching in a specific database, such as Ashford’s library, different from searching in Bing, Google, or Yahoo?  There are two main types of online information databases that you will encounter. The first is a public domain database, which is entirely free and open to anyone with a computer and an Internet connection. The second is a proprietary database, which is accessible only to someone who pays for a subscription or belongs to an institution that purchases a membership (Bowles 2010). Bing, Google and Yahoo are examples or public domain databases and Ashford Library is a proprietary database. Information on the Internet was created for many purposes such as to inform or persuade to present a viewpoint, and to create or change an attitude or belief. Although when used properly, credible information can be obtained through search engines- not everything recovered is from a credible source. Ashford Library is from a scholastic source and the information found within is from credible sources. Social networks allow people to connect for a variety of reasons in a digital environment.  You might join LinkedIn to meet business contacts, MySpace to find a band member, or Facebook to see pictures of old friends and meet new ones. Whatever environment you decide to be a part of, posting information about you has become an issue of concern. What are those concerns? I mean what is the big deal about privacy? Social networking seems to be the new fad of the century. From Myspace, to Friendster, to Facebook, to Twitter- more and more of us flock to these sites to see what’s going on around us. But a lot of us are unaware of the privacy issues that come along with logging and posting onto these sites- such as me. I didn’t really see how serious privacy issues were until I took this course and read the many articles regarding the many privacy concerns of using social media sites; such as where you’ve been, what you’re listening to, what you’re interests are, who you’re associated with, when you’re not home, where you live or work, what your family looks like, etc. When it comes to these sites, there’s no such thing as privacy. You register your personal information and it’s permanently embedded into the internet. I’ve been a victim of social media. I’ve posted things on the internet that I wish I hadn’t and till this day, I have things on the internet that I just can’t seem to delete. I have certain things on my Facebook that I don’t want to world to see but keeping everything personal and private to just a certain group of people is almost impossible when it comes to social media.