Google is now a verb.

Google is now a verb. (8/22/2005)

People google for everything from mortgage rates to prospective mates. While this action word suggests a lot about the cultural and social impact of the Internet, it suggests very little about information literacy. Despite the power of the prodigious search engine, Google cannot guarantee authoritative results, and this poses a special problem for students, faculty, and other researchers who are forced to decide whether the information they find on the Internet is relevant to their information need and reliable enough to serve as a citable source.

In a 2001 study of incoming university freshmen, Gutierrez and Wang determined that when presented with many information source choices, students often choose what is most easy to use or what is already familiar. This means that many students are simply doing a broad Internet search, i.e. googling, and many accept the resulting hits as primary source information without considering its authority, currency, or scope. Unfortunately, the Internet is filled with misinformation, and few people actually take the time to carefully evaluate online information sources and perhaps are unaware of other specialized online resources that are accessible, authoritative and easy to use.

Enter the University Libraries
In the midst of the confusing labyrinth of online information and misinformation, the University Libraries delivers access to 155 academic databases and over 16,575 online journals available 24/7/365 to our university community through the libraries' website. These powerful learning tools can save students and faculty untold hours of Internet navigation and source evaluation by producing reliable and relevant results. Subject-specific databases and journals allow students and faculty to find the most accurate and relevant information available on their topic.

The University Libraries' subscription databases and journals are carefully selected to support teaching and learning. The librarians in our Collections Development unit work closely with faculty in academic departments to bring students and faculty the most useable and useful online information sources from trusted academic publishers.

While Google and other search engines may offer users access to a wide array of websites and other online information, the University Libraries provide more streamlined information alternatives through databases and electronic journals. The upcoming technological implementations of a link resolver and federated search will greatly increase the searchability and integration of our database and full-text e-journal resources. Through the development of reliable and relevant electronic resources collections and powerful search tools, the University Libraries offer our users the most innovative and efficient access to online information available today.