Recently, the Digital Experience Group gave a presentation to the occasional meeting of our Site Managers, the people who run each of our branch libraries. These are the people who work every day with our patrons, help them with their requests, and get them situated on the computers. They know the NYPL patron as well as anyone. We asked this group, “What do you think the most frequently searched word on the NYPL web site is?” We got a lot of good guesses: “Jobs”. “DVD”. “Books”. “Hours”. “Classes”. “Late fees”.
Good guesses all. Many of these searches are definitely in the top 25 or so on a regular basis. But over the past year, one search term has consistently occupied the number one spot, and not by a small margin. I mean, we’re talking a 1996 Chicago Bulls level of dominance. That term is…
did you see number 2?
“google”
a very common search term in our library, too, along with “hotmail.”
it just shows that many people do not understand how web pages work or how browsers work or what search boxes should do… I just talked to a guy yesterday, who seemed to know what he was talking about, but after a while, I realized that he thougth that Windows and IE were the same thing because when I suggested that he try Firefox, he asked if he had to get rid of Windows and if Firefox would protect his computers from viruses…… it’s so difficult to suddenly change gears when you find out that someone doesn’t get it (and not sound like you think the guy is an idiot)…. some people don’t want to find out that they don’t know stuff…. I hope I didn’t make him feel like an idiot.