Everyone Can Be a Search Expert
February 10, 2017
In the bad old days of SDC Orbit and BRS, one had to learn commands to run queries. I remember a pitch from Dow Jones and its nascent “retrieval” experts baying about graphical interfaces. Yep, how has that worked out for the professional researchers. With each “making it easier to search” movement, the quality of the search experts has gone down. I can’t recall the last time I met a person who said, “I am not very good at finding information online.”
Right, everyone is an expert.
The point of my comment about user friendliness is to create a nice little iron hook on which to hand this hypothesis.
Search is going to disappear.
Don’t believe me. Navigate to “Survey: 60 Percent of Voice Users Want more Answers and Fewer Search Results.” The key word is “voice.” This means more Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and voice recognition. The fewer results is a direct consequence of small screens and diminished attention spans.
Who wants to do research which requires:
- Identifying sources
- Locating information
- Reading the information
- Thinking about the information
- Synthesizing the information
- Creating a foot or end note.
Forget the notion of a reference interview, selecting a database editorially shaped to contain higher value information, and scanning an annotated bibliography.
Nope.
Talk to your phone. The smart software will deliver the answer.
I learned from the write up:
The top three rationales behind voice usage were:
- It’s fast.
- The answer is read back to me.
- I don’t have to type.
About 40 percent of both men and women said that voice made using their smartphones easier. Men were more likely than women to strongly agree. This answer and other data in the survey reflect a mostly positive experience with voice.
Want charts? Want “proof”? Read the source document. My view is that a failure to think about research and go through the intellectual work required to obtain semi reliable, semi accurate information means more time for Facebook and Twitter.
That’s great.
Let’s make it so people will accept the output of a voice search without thinking. There’s absolutely nothing like a great idea with no downside. Wonderful.
Stephen E Arnold, February 10, 2017
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Dripping with irony. I love it.