Research Process
The first place I went to begin researching this subject was the website listed on the back of one of Mr. Batchelder’s books called “Web Search Garage” by Tara Calishain. The website, http://www.researchbuzz.org/wp/, was actually her blog but didn’t really have a whole lot of useful information on research processes, just some updates and links to other blogs and news articles. None of the links seemed to have much research information either, I think she saves the good information for her books, to give people a reason to purchase them.
I found a pretty interesting posting called Feeling Lost in a World of Search Zombies on the Association of College and Research Libraries’ blog. It references an article by Jakob Nielson called Bridging the Designer-User Gap in which he discusses research stating that 24% of people in a usability study weren’t even able to successfully run a Google search. This data might be slightly skewed or over-exaggerated since he is trying to sell readers on his usability camp, but it is interesting to read anyways. Anyone who has a chance should read the whole article, there is some other good points in it as well that don’t relate to searching. While the Nielson article is a little off topic, the way it is discussed in the ACRL post brings it closer to home. The article has one statement that says, “Have we created a generation of search zombies who listlessly tap away at the keyboard with no strategy at all just hoping they’ll find some information, and then mindlessly settle for whatever their first Google page yields?” This does seem to be the way a lot of people conduct their research on the Internet, which is a good reason why a lot of people have trouble finding exactly what it is they are looking for.
Successful research requires forethought and planning, dependent on what the desired result for the search is, different avenues have to be explored. For example, I found an excellent visual search engine for searching images and videos called oSkope which presents search results in a pretty original way. Google has some of the best search tools available, but that doesn’t mean they should be used exclusively in all research projects. Beyond selecting the appropriate avenue to begin a search, deciding how to word your search is also important. Nicole posted an interesting article from Google called, Advanced Google Search Operators which everyone should read if they run into problems getting the search results they are looking for, or narrowing down the volume of results that are returned. I like to alter the way I input search criteria, look over the results, and then further alter them. Tags and links in articles are usually where I end up finding what I am looking for, the searching just brings me to something related as a starting point.
usernumber said,
May 12, 2008 at 11:16 pm
I just imagined zombies using a search engine for discounted brains. Thank you for that.
nicosilva said,
May 14, 2008 at 4:02 pm
I just yanked a few of your articles and put them in my RSS feed reader. Thanks.
It’s amazing how few people know how to do a proper Google search. Of course, search engines can be so frustrating, what with actually having to use a brain to think up keywords (sarcasm not intended).
I noticed you mentioned oSkope; are there any other types of searches you found? Pouring through tags on social bookmarking sites, looking at related links, stuff like that?
Though, referencing the post after this (the addition), I will have to mention you got that Arlo Guthrie song stuck in my head. Thanks for that as well. I’ll make sure to hum it near you sometime so it’ll be in your head as well. All 18 minutes of it.
I got mentioned! Squee!
jlphannah said,
May 14, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Its interesting to read the comments posted for that article “Feeling Lost in a World of Search Zombies”. Some see it as pointless to develop a “method to the madness” so to speak and some agree that others hopelessly search the internet without any real plan of action.
A quote from that article: “Have we created a generation of search zombies who listlessly tap away at the keyboard with no strategy at all just hoping they’ll find some information, and then mindlessly settle for whatever their first Google page yields?”
I think to a certain extent (myself included) we just type whatever comes to mind and hope that it generates a satisfying result. Kinda like puling the arm of a slot machine and hoping to win.
Researching something is a bit more complicated than that to a degree, but unlike the author I don’t believe that its necessary to require it as a necessary skill set. Only certain career paths view that as an essential skill and even then most researchers have a pool of resources (other than solely referring to the Internet) to draw their information from.
danpro1 said,
May 14, 2008 at 7:59 pm
Thanks for the link on boolean operators. I agree with you, it dosnt require a skill set to do a little research, just a lot of curiosity? Curiosity leads to discovery.
Lindsey said,
May 14, 2008 at 9:17 pm
That is a good point about “search zombies.” I think like most people I tend to search the same old way for everything I’m looking for, and I should definitely change my strategy according to what it is exactly that I’m looking for. And the comment about 24% of people couldn’t complete a Google search is really interesting. I think as web designers we probably use the internet more than the average person, which is something we need to consider when we design from a usability standpoint.
mwcain81 said,
May 15, 2008 at 1:07 am
Heh, that is exactly the way I used to search……I would plug in as many different terms for what I wanted as I could think of until I came up with something I considered useful. I believe there is a skill set to effectively searching, but that the set is not very deep or demanding. Anyone can search effectively, but then as more and more information is added to the digital world will it become more important to develop these skills to the next level? I mean not only do you have to sort through new and relevant data but also through the years of accumulated junk. The internet’s version of a landfill.