Why Google Isn't the Be-All-End-All

(but you can still use it and like it!)

Okay, so I was thinking about some of the major comments that kept popping up in my reference class this past semester. I think everyone agreed that we could all find the answers to our professor's questions using Google. (yes, he prepared some really challenging ones for us to seek out our answers in the reference dept. "NO GOOGLE. Get OVER IT"..his words, not mine.)

However, what I began to realize is that Google doesn't provide you with a direct source in terms of:
a publisher
an author
a publication date
an authoritative resource or subject matter expert

While Google is great at culling a massive amount of information, it doesn't really help a novice pin point the EXACT reference that will constantly be the right source for repeat searches.

Fact books and almanacs are wonderful gems in your library's reference section! Most provide a brief overview of topical information, but can provide resources for more in depth study and research. I used these when I was researching my bibliography topic, "Reality TV". I found them to be helpful in forming my direction for research.

Here are some general resources I used in my Reference course that were helpful and informative:

InfoPlease
The New Encyclopaedia Britannica
World Almanac
Encyclopedia of Associations

A fun resource is the Guinness Book of World Records. The libraries I used had a huge collection of these - from 1960's to present. It was fun to look through these and reads some of the wild records!

(Oh, yeah - it's okay to have fun doing research!!)

Okay, enjoy using some other resources other than Google...I'll talk more about subject specific resources next time.

Cheers,

A