Google has gained popularity over traditional library sources, mostly ... (Case, 2005). Mellon's theory of Library. Anxiety developed in. 1986 (Katopol,. 2005).
OBJECTIVES
Aminath Riyaz
The purpose of this research is to: 1) understand the extent of the Googling phenomenon through the perceptions of information users in an academic setting; 2) evaluate if the perceptions translate to reality; 3) investigate its implications on academic library service provision; and 4) examine the extent of cohesion of this phenomenon across different economies.
Department of Information Studies
Supervised by:
‘I can Google it’ information seeking behavior
RESEARCH QUESTIONS How prevalent is the “I can Google it” attitude among the academic community, and how does this phenomenon influence the academic community’s information seeking behavior? What is the impact of this Googling phenomenon on the provision of academic library services? Is the Googling phenomenon and its implications the same in developed and developing countries?
Googling Phenomenon
Dr. Pauline Joseph & Dr. Paul Genoni
This research is supported through the Curtin International Postgraduate Research Scholarship, Feb 2014- Feb 2018
INTRODUCTION Research evidence suggests that Google search engine has become the main information mediator for the academic community. Past studies: Evaluates the relevancy of results retrieved through Google compared to library sources including library web catalogues, scholarly databases, and federated library searches (e.g. Georgas, 2013). Google has gained popularity over traditional library sources, mostly based on ease of use and reliability; while library sources are acknowledged by users as authoritative but clumsy to use (e.g. Brophy & Bawden, 2005; Carlson, 2003). Carlson (2003) outlined educators’ concerns about undergraduate students’ lack of awareness about the difference between searching on the Web and searching in the library. There are indications of an ‘I can Google it’ mindset by the user community that hinges on bypassing libraries. There does not appear to be any research to indicate the level of reliance on Google by university students and academics, especially from different economic perspectives.
While much research has been carried out on Google, there is no evidence of any research using a phenomenological approach to understand this world-wide phenomenon through the perceptions of information users; nor has there been any attempt to understand the phenomenon from different economic perspectives.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Principle of Least Effort – Zip’s Law of 1949 (Case, 2005)
Mellon’s theory of Library Anxiety developed in 1986 (Katopol, 2005)
A qualitative inquiry into information behaviour of the academic community in the Googling environment, informed by these two theories combined with the variables presented in Knight and Spink’s macro model of human IR behaviour on the Web, is believed to yield useful insights into the phenomenon under study
Figure 1: A macro model of human IR behaviour on the Web (Knight & Spink, 2008, p.230)
METHODOLOGY
Target Population: - The Maldives National University, Male’, Maldives - Villa College, Male’, Maldives - Curtin University, Australia
Phenomenology: views, opinions, and thoughts of individuals in the academic sector interacting with information
In-depth Interviews
Offers triangulation of results
Small sample
Informs the design of the questionnaire
Online Questionnaire
PHASE ONE Interviews Jan-June 2015
Academic Staff [4 staff] University Students [4 students] PHASE TWO Interviews June-July 2015
LIS Professionals [3 staff]
Larger sample PHASE THREE Questionnaire Nov 2015-Mar 2016
Target Population: - The Maldives National University, Male’, Maldives - Villa College, Male’, Maldives
Note: Curtin University is not included in the interviews as there is enough literature from developed country perspectives to inform the questionnaire design.
Academic Staff (10%) University Students (10%)
TENTATIVE FINDINGS (
) Need physical books for meaningful reading Google is the starting point Google is a discovery tool Ease of use Reliance on friends network as information mediators verses Library Googling = Searching Google as a self-contained database If something is not discoverable on Google, it doesn’t exist! No option other than make do with Google There’s enough on Google Heard Library offers some databases – never used Don’t have time Need online books for research – ease of search Physical library is not as up-to-date as Google Google is reliable and quick Highly desire all information content to be
accessible online from the desktop Are there other search engines?
“Just Google it” Google = Internet
REFERENCES Brophy, J. & Bawden, D. (2005). Is Google enough? Comparison of an internet search engine with academic library resources, ASLIB Proceedings, 57(6), 498-512. Carlson, S. (2003). New Allies in the Fight against Research by Googling. Chronicle of Higher Education, 49(28), 33-34. Case, D. O. (2005). Principle of Least Effort. In K. E. Fisher, S. Erdelez & L. McKechnie (Eds.), Theories of information behavior (pp. 289-292). New Jersey: American Society for Information Science and Technology. Georgas, H. (2013). Google vs. the Library: Student Preferences and Perceptions when Doing Research Using Google and a Federated Search Tool. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 13(2), 165-185.
Bing?!
Google
Yahoo!?
Katopol, P. (2005). Library Anxiety. In K. E. Fisher, S. Erdelez & L. McKechnie (Eds.), Theories of information behavior (pp. 235238). New Jersey: American Society for Information Science and Technology. Knight, S. A., & Spink, A. (2008). Toward a Web search information behaviour model. In A. Spink & M. Zimmer (Eds.), Web search: multidisciplinary perspectives (pp. 209-234). Berlin Heidelberg: Springer. Rowlands, I., Nicholas, D., Williams, P., Huntington, P., Fieldhouse, M., Gunter, B., . . . Tenopir, C. (2008). The Google generation: the information behaviour of the researcher of the future. Aslim Proceedings: New Perspectives, 60(4), 290-310.
