VIE WPOINT
LEARN WITHOUT
THE WEB
By Mark Bauerlein
Teach that
the research
process is as
worthwhile as
the sought-after
information itself.
With Google and most other search engines, it’s all about instant relevance—delivering what users ask for; the
speedier, the better. That’s why in 2005
Google began to personalize search
results, responding to a current search
by tracking past searches. The goal was
to bring the desired information to the
number-one spot on the first page of
results. Google’s success was validated
by AOL in August 2006 when it reported
that for Google searches, a whopping
42 percent yielded a click on the top
result. The second result dropped to 12
percent and the tenth to 3 percent. The
total for the second page (each page
includes 10 items) was only 10 percent.
That tiny percentage for items past
the first five isn’t a measure of the
superficial or itsy-bitsy nature of most
queries. Rather, it shows how Google
is efficient and serviceable, a direct
and speedy aid to any curiosity. People
who need a name, fact, title, reference...
virtually anything on record… can find
it without legwork, false leads, dead
ends, or marginal clutter. Google itself
says, “The lifespan of a Google query
normally lasts less than half a second.” It
connects minds with desired objects in
an instant, assisting knowing and learn-
ing in ways inconceivable in the days of
library card catalogs and thousand-page
bibliographies in the reference room.
