Google

Story at NPR about a bill to get rid of the NTIS.

Related blog post: S. 2206 set to eliminate NTIS: fundamentally misunderstands the Internet

http://www.zdnet.com/google-a-million-miles-away-from-creating-the-search-engine-of-my-dreams-says-larry-page-7000029485/
“Information is Google’s core,” Page said, noting that over 100 billion Google searches are conducted each month — 15 percent of which are never-before-asked new queries. The search engine is working on being able to provide direct answers to questions rather than just a list of results said Page, adding that Voice Search now works in 38 languages.

Remember when we all loved Google? Its search engine was both simple to use and an unbiased portal to anything you wanted to know. It was founded by two college students at a time when Silicon Valley was a shining beacon of what was right in the world, during sunny economic and political times.

http://www.infoworld.com/print/239815

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c113:S.2206.IS:/

SEC. 3. NATIONAL TECHNICAL INFORMATION SERVICE.

(a) Repeal- Effective on the date that is 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the National Technical Information Act of 1988 (subtitle B of title II of Public Law 100-519; 15 U.S.C. 3704b) is repealed.

(b) Transfer of Critical Functions-

(1) CONSULTATION REQUIREMENT- The Secretary of Commerce, the Archivist of the United States, the Comptroller General of the United States, and the Commissioner of Social Security shall consult with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to determine if any function of the National Technical Information Service is critical to the economy of the United States.

(2) GAO CERTIFICATION- The Comptroller General of the United States shall determine which of the critical functions identified pursuant to paragraph (1) are not being carried out by any other agency or instrumentality of the Federal Government.

(3) TRANSFERS AUTHORIZED- Before the effective date set forth in subsection (a), the Secretary of Commerce may transfer the responsibility for any critical function of NTIS (as identified under paragraph (1)) that is not otherwise being carried out (as determined under paragraph (2)) to another office within the Department of Commerce.

(c) Abolition of Functions- Except for the functions transferred pursuant to subsection (b), all functions of the National Technical Information Service immediately before the repeal date described in subsection (a) are abolished on such repeal date.

Listen to host Manoush Zomorodi* of NPR determine people’s opinions about Google Glass (affordability, issues of privacy). Have you tried it out? What do you think? I saw a few folks wearing Glass at ALA-MW.

Here’s New Tech City’s website and here’s South by Southwest’s website.

(*Finally figured out how Ms. Zomorodi’s name is spelled).

http://pando.com/2014/01/27/this-is-how-google-is-killing-the-web/
But you won’t find these great sites on the first page of Google results—you might not find them on the first 10. As a result, these services, some of them genuinely life-changing, get lost in the dark recesses of the Internet. Even when you find these gems, you probably won’t think to access them the next time you log on. Their biggest challenge is finding a large enough audience to create a habit around their product.

Creating a habit around a product is limited by the way we browse the Web.

Take a moment and think about the browser user experience. It hasn’t changed much in the past 20 years and since the days of Netscape, we’ve been confined to a search box. We need to know exactly what we’re looking for, either through a search or by typing in the exact web address.

http://lifehacker.com/google-tips-and-tricks-every-student-should-know-1508121671

Whether you’re a student in college (or earlier) or a lifelong learner, Google is an essential tool for learning. Here are a few tips for using Google search and other apps more effectively to further your education.

Many of these tips you’ve no doubt learned before from our previous Google coverage, but every worthwhile subject is worth reviewing now and again, and today we’re looking specifically at the best Google tricks for students. So here we go!

The word “ungoogleable” has been removed from a list of new Swedish words after a trademark spat. But it raises the question of what can and can’t be found with a search engine.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21956743
For some, it seems, being ungoogleable is an unfortunate state of affairs. For others, the ignorance of Google’s algorithms is bliss.

So this might be a big deal: Google Scholar Library. Google does citation management. http://t.co/0T4W9Ih4VH

— Jason Griffey (@griffey) November 20, 2013

@griffey @adr OH: that's cool, but I would never trust them, because they can get rid of it at any moment.

— David Kinzer (@dtkinzer) November 20, 2013

@griffey @adr Insert tweet here about Zotero and my cold, dead hands.

— Graham Fawcett (@gmfawcett) November 20, 2013

Google Scholar library is great idea… until they stop supporting or eff it up with Plus. Use Zotero, kids. OS and proven track record.

— Sarah Glassmeyer (@sglassmeyer) November 20, 2013

Conflicting views over the announcement by Google of Google Scholar Library.

This one has been a long time coming, but this morning, Judge Denny Chin (who actually has a long history of siding with copyright holders) found that Google’s book scanning project is fair use. This is a huge victory in a variety of ways. TechDirt has the story.