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[busted_kneecap]

The more I think about it, the more and more I hate people's reliance on Google. Need to find something out, Google it! Blah, hate hate hate. I was showing easy kid databases to kids for some animal project they were doing, and they were like okay, okay, now can we go on the computer and Google this thing. BLAH. As a librarian, I am going to

Comments

[birkenstokk]

I told you about my professor who, when i asked him about linguistics databases to use in researching my paper, advised me to just go google it, didn't i?

NO!

[busted_kneecap]

If I were in charge of the OED, I would ban the use of googe as a verb for the rest of my life. LEARN ABOUT OTHER SEARCH ENGINES, PEOPLE. THERE ARE OTHER SEARCH ENGINES BESIDES GOOGLE.

You might be able to find some good web sources, but not on Google. Try the Internet Public Library (ipl.org) or the Librarian's Index to the Internet (lii.org) Also, if you are interested, I found this good list of what search engines to use for what searches. I can look and see where I put it, if you want.

[busted_kneecap]

I just found it, it's here: http://www.philb.com/whichengine.htm

[ander]

I, too, am opposed to the verb "to Google." I did not know it had made it into the OED, though. Unfortunately, I think it is an inevitable addition to the language. Soon, it will become as ubiquitous as the verb "to Xerox," the noun form of "Kleenex." Interestingly enough, I don't use either of those terms with regularity. I don't think I have ever said I was going to "Xerox" something. But maybe that also has to do with the timing; there were plenty of photocopier companies around in the 80's and the 90's. But during the time when everyone was figuring out what this InnerZone thing was, Google was the most widely used search engine, and they have had effective marketing that made the brand a household name. Similarly, Xerox was the first major producer of photocopiers during the time when that technology was being developed. It's true; I googled it.

[busted_kneecap]

Oh, I don't think it's in the OED as of now, but if I were in charge, I would make sure the verb "to Google" would be banned for life. As for Xerox, I think the term to Xerox has been used with less and less frequency. People are always asking me where they can make copies, not make xeroxes. This might also have to do with the large number of non-native English speakers that come into my library, though.

[ander]

Yeah, I think "to Xerox" was used by a very specific group of people, namely those who were around when Xerox was first making copying machines. In the same way that "Scotch tape" and "Kleenex" are used less now than they once were, I think "to Google" will enjoy a period of heavy usage, and then will drop out of the lexicon as better search engines become more popular and as the people who say it die out, which I am willing to help expedite.

That said, I use Google for about 50% of the the searches that I run online (with the other 50% being on Wikipedia). But now that I have that handy librarian resource, I will be using those other search engines more often.

Also, why is the invisible internet invisible? Wouldn't more people know about it if they made it visible?

[busted_kneecap]

I think the invisable web is invisible because maybe 96% of the information on the web is crap, and maybe 4% is relevent, useful information. So, of course, when you do a web search on something like Google, a lot of crap is going to show up. Websites like lii.org or ipl.org or even library's web pages pull out the good websites from the crap. By the way, the Librarians Index to the Interent has a rss fee of all the great websites they find that week. It's great!

[chalant]

Yesterday I totally dogpiled some beer recipes? No. I need to lycos some new shoes. Wait. How about, needing some better porno, as I do, I think I will mamma it. Gross. They are all dumb.
Calvin said it best: verbing weirds language.

[busted_kneecap]

WILL YOU PLEASE SAVE ME FROM MIDDLE VILLAGE I HAVE 15 MINUTES TO GO AND I AM DYING OF BOREDOM AND ALREADY ANNOYED THE CRAP OUT OF KARELL LIKE AT 2.

In other news, I'm going to the Opera tonight. What did you do last night?