Search matters because the process is sometimes just as valuable as the information found. This class illuminates all the ways in which search matters! I think the lessons I'll most value are the tricks and tips I learned that the every day user might not know. Those are the things I can pass on to patrons and other users. For example, Google results are sometimes paid ad, so the first results are not the most relevant. I always stress to my patrons that Google is not the only option for searching out there! With a little effort using a different search platform can be just as easy and way more effective. I also appreciated all the tricks we learned along the way to make a search more successful, and have already been implementing those in my own searches.

If I had to represent what the information landscape looks like to me with a picture, I would choose the above picture. I wanted something with a focal point on the horizon. It's impossible to see exactly where the path ends, which represents that there isn't an end to the search process! I also chose an image with a curvy path. This was to represent the twists and turns of searching. As we talked about a few times this semester, a query might lead you to a few different secondary queries! The searches build off each other, and might branch off into different ideas. 

It's been a great semester learning about search with all of you!

f

I've enjoyed making this trip with all of you.  It's a great mix of people and I have learned from you all.  

 

Search matters because information matters! We have a social responsibility to keep users informed as well as teach them how to do so themselves. I feel like we all took this class at the most relevant time; the explosion of fake news and alternative facts was mentioned almost every week on our Google+ community, forcing us to realize just how important our jobs are and will always be! 

 

When first considering a metaphor for the search and info landscape, I wanted to say a map, but maps don’t really change as often as the search landscape does. But then I thought of the Marauder’s map from Harry Potter. For anyone who doesn’t know, this magical map of Hogwarts shows people walking around in real time. It’s always changing, just like the search landscape. 

I felt like the weekly activities, VOS, Database of the Week, and WSN were little building blocks each week that helped me build a better understanding of the topic. It was an interactive and engaging learning process that I enjoyed. It made learning a more exploratory experience rather then relying heavily on text only.  

Probably one of the biggest Ahas for me this semester was the realization that in order to be a part of the conversations that are going on I need to participate in the online communities that they are taking place in. I have been missing out on many conversations by avoiding and denying the cultural shift to social media. I began to see their value and relevance.   

When I think of search, the first thing that comes to mind is the 1981s classic arcade game Frogger.  The highway and river represent the internet while the trucks, cars, turtles, and logs represent sources and information. In the same way that Frogger doesn’t always have a clear path there isn’t always a direct route to an answer. Additionally, just because Frogger has made it to the logs and turtles doesn’t mean he has found the correct path. There are times he has to bravely backtrack to get to the correct path. This is what searching, for me, looks like. It’s trying different search engines or databases. It’s trying search terms, revising them, and trying again. It’s finding the best path to the other side of the query. Unlike Frogger who doesn’t always have ample time, the process of navigating the the highway and then the river is just as important in search.    

Search matters because it leads to new discoveries, learning, and expanding our world.  It fulfills a basic need for some - to get answers.  For others, it’s a gateway to synthesizing information that leads to the development of new ideas.  Search matters - just look at how Google has become a part of our everyday vocabulary.

Let’s consider golf as a metaphor for search. As a librarian, I would be similar to the role of the caddy.  At each hole, the golfer and caddy have to survey the layout and strategize.  Sometimes there are challenges such as sand and water traps that get the golfer into trouble! A hole can look different each time you play, depending upon weather conditions, where the tee is placed, and the condition of the grass.  The caddy helps to advise the golfer, based on his knowledge of the person, his game, the way others have approached the hole, and perhaps even past experience.  The caddy needs to gauge the needs of the golfer, including addressing the mental part of the game. Small conversations take place, consultations if you wish.  Adjustments are made.  And no two rounds of golf, let alone two holes, are ever the same.  Over time, a caddy and a golfer develop a relationship that is based on trust.  As a school librarian, I hope to be in a position to help students and staff navigate their way through the search landscape.

Like others I really enjoyed Assignment 2, it was certainly a daunting task, especially when I looked at it in the first couple weeks of the semester, but in the end, all the tools from our toolkits were used, and I didn't feel lost like I thought I would. My toolkit is growing, and I'm still learning how to best use some of the tools I have, but it's worlds better than the beginning of the semester. I would say that I'm not sure I would ever be able to call a LibGuide "done." As soon as I submitted the guide tons of ideas came to me that I wished I could alter for a better guide, which is great, but also frustrating. 

I've been trying to come up with a metaphor or image for the information landscape all week and I'm not sure if it will make total sense, but I'll try. I think about the information landscape as the Scottish highlands. There are mountains, lochs, bogs with bog bodies, unpaved roads, and potential monsters awaiting you. You may start your journey on a nice paved road in Inverness, but before long you may be trudging through water, or climbing up hills. There are multiple peaks and valleys you have to navigate. In many ways it is still a wild landscape but civilization is there too.  Straying too far off a path can be dangerous, but at the same time you must stray at times and take a chance that what you find will be worth it. Librarians are like good off the beaten path tour guides in some sense.  We're here to show you the overview of what's here, we can direct you to places to see on your own ("don't go there, it's very touristy and crowded, try this place instead"), we can show you how to get to where you want to go, and we can go with you. We can supply you with the tools to find the great places, but your journey is yours. The information or experiences you collect are yours, not the tour guides, and no one will find the same use for the information or the experience as another person. 

My current visualization of the search landscape is kind of like a cornucopia. Somewhere within the facets of my search there are bits of information very relevant what I'm looking for. Of course, there's also a great deal of spill over. As tempting as those other nuggets (tangents) look, my true goal is somewhere within the much smaller confines of the wicker.