Infoissue?

In the article "The Infodiet: How Libraries Can Offer an Appetizing Alternative to Google" Steven J. Bell addresses students' growing inability to conduct any sort of meaningful research. He compares the Google search engine to fast food; it's fast, easy, and not the best way of getting what you need. The library seems to have been lost in a world of paper, ink and complicated search engines that students don't understand. Bell suggests that libraries try to make search engines more like Google so that students are less apprehensive about learning to use them. It would seem that students of today are suffering from information overload where the information they have isn't even the information they want. With better designed search engines Bell thinks students will be able to edit out for themselves the information that is less desirable and keep information that is relevant and scholarly.

The Google issue is obviously something that needs to be addressed and I think Bell provides some good suggestions for libraries and others to contemplate. I especially liked the "information-literacy initiative" idea because that addresses the heart of the issue: a student isn't going to use something they don't know about. When a group of people is putting on a play or performance they have to post information and posters to let everybody know what is going on... these scholarly search engines are relatively new and need the same sort of publicity. One issue I think Bell didn't touch on was the growing divide between the intellectual elite and "regular people." Some of the most tech-savvy people might not know about sites like EBSCOhost because they aren't really talked about within the general public. I think something like an "information-literacy initiative" would be the best way to close that gap.