Information Literacy
In This Chapter
Learning Objectives
- Understand the limitations of the open web and how to use catalogs and databases to compensate for those limitations
- Understand how to use search terms when seeking information
Summary
While they return an impressive number of results, search engines like Google are unable to show us content from the deep web. A main function of libraries is to provide access to content not available on the surface web that represents important parts of the conversation about your wicked problem. In both Google and library searches the search terms we select can have a huge impact on what we find.
Limitations of Google and the Open Web
It may feel like Google, with it’s millions of results for even the most trivial search, is serving us the entire universe of information. But Google, or any search engine, is only able to retrieve results from the surface web, the part of the web easily accessible through any search engine.
There are a variety of ways to keep a website inaccessible to Google and a variety of reasons someone might want to. Your email and online banking information are set behind login screens because that information is sensitive and private. Websites where illegal activity is taking place (the dark web, which is only a small part of the deep web) can require particular browsers or authorization in order to remain hidden from law enforcement. But the most relevant situation for the purposes of researching a wicked problem is when content is valuable enough that it is put behind a paywall and accessible only to those who are willing and able to pay. This includes streaming video sites like Netflix, some newspapers, magazines, and journals, and most books.
Think about the gatekeeping processes discussed in the Types of Sources chapter. A lot of these processes are time intensive and cost a good deal of money. Sources that have gone through a careful process of creation are likely to be both high quality and behind a paywall so that the costs of production can be recovered. If it’s good enough that some people would pay for it, the creator probably isn’t going to give it away for free on the internet.
Think about that: as much as Google can show you, it tends to be the best, most carefully created information that you cannot get for free on the web. (I say “tends to be” because you may also remember from the previous chapter that there are no hard and fast rules about determining the quality or usefulness of information. Some creators give away high quality information, and some charge for questionable content.)
Libraries & Access
If you want to participate in the conversation about a wicked problem, many important parts of that conversation may not be available on the surface web. Happily, one of the main functions of libraries is to provide access to information not freely available elsewhere. They do this both by buying print versions of sources and by buying subscriptions to portions of