Emerging search engines; feeding the counter narratives

With tensions rising around Google's current domination over "free" online information access there are some alternatives emerging:

Cuil (pronounced COOL), a search engine directly challenging Google, is indexing the web across 120 billion sites and offering content-based relevance methods, with complete user privacy is also providing a rich display of results with organising features, such as tabs to clarify subjects, images to identify topics and search refining suggestions to help guide the user to the information they need.

Intelways provides an online search service through a comprehensive set of search channels organised into different categories. It locates content in different formats and media types for multiple interests and topics, by retrieving results from multiple search engines and online providers.

Silobreaker is an online search service for news and current events. It pulls together content on global issues, science, technology and business from over 10,000 news, blog, research and multimedia sources. It focuses on finding and connecting related data then presents a tapestry of graphical, visual and textual links to assist the user to identify connections, trends and topics or to navigate deeper into the most relevant information for to suit their information need.

Integrate and Create

Dr Lana W. Jackman is an extremely capable warm generous charismatic and experienced activist. Since I participated in her keynote at the Life Long Learning conference she has been resonating in my reflections on many levels.
The main emphasis of her keynote was to encourage participants to engage in boundary crossing with other agents and organisations to also operate to promote the goals of Information Literacy. (I will post some of the strategies I’ve been developing to boundary cross later.) More to the point during her presentation she shared this slide.

Acknowledging the stages of integrate and create in the ICT literacy skills struck a resounding chord with me. I realised that these are two stages that need to considered in the Research cycle that I have been developing, see post 3rd April 2008. It is now so obvious to me that the information selected and located also needs to be integrated with existing knowledge to then create a new understanding that is then communicated.

This is particularly important as so many of the students I have been working with are required to utilise multimedia in their assessment (read: learning). In creating and contributing to new knowledge they are often looking for information, images and ideas that are not constrained by ownership and copyright. Content that holds Creative Commons licenses operate to offer a rich resource, particularly when their “re-creations” are to be re-compartmentalised, broadcasted, exhibited, or performed (read: integrated and created).

This has led me to share with them a feature of Google that is tucked away within the advanced search help feature under the unassuming and loaded heading Usage rights. This offers a search limit option across the range of Creative Commons licenses. From where they can then obtain resources to then ethically integrate, create and communicate new understandings.

Collaboration to enhance research

The University of Otago is collaborating with the National Library of New Zealand on a pilot project to promote student skills and use of New Zealand's digital resources.

The aim of the project is threefold: to work collaboratively, to raise awareness and use of digital resources, and to increase student skills in using search engines and databases. To achieve this The National Library has produced a web page with links to databases and information on searching, as well as pocket guides and posters.

To promote the launch of this project and interest in the web page there is the opportunity for sudents to win an iPod Touch (TM) and a trip to Wellington to work with librarians on the winner's choice of research.

The web site can be accessed at http://www.natlib.govt.nz/smarter and includes links to resources around the New Zealand and tutorials from the National Library and the University of Otago OIL modules.

Reflecting on searching

During a presentation at the Life Long Learning conference in Yeppoon I was very impressed by the work of Syliva Edwards from QUT. In her research to understand student online information seeking behaviour she has developed and applied the e-learning tool Reflective Online Searching Skills (ROSS).

ROSS intends to push the boundary of online information literacy programs by guiding learners to know, reflect, and practice information literacy concepts through the use of case studies or problem based learning.

She outlines her research at the website http://www.netlenses.fit.qut.edu.au/

Here she applies some powerful metaphors in understanding students experience as:

looking for a needle in a haystack
finding a way through a maze
using the tools as a filter
panning for gold.

Each concept operates to move towards a more positive approach to the task.

I also recommend exploration of the non linear flash animation video http://www.netlenses.fit.qut.edu.au/graphics/hintro.jsp