Searching 2.0

In 2001, Michael Sauers's Using the Internet as a Reference Tool: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians [1] was published. Since then, the evolution of the Internet in the direction of social networking combined with the recent explosion of Web 2.0 resources has intensified the need for applicable search tools. While the Internet has never been big on controlled vocabulary, metadata and keyword searching have now been joined by tags and folksonomies as legitimate concepts to master. Comprehensive Internet searching requires a full and updated toolbox, so for those who were sitting on the sidelines thinking that Web 2.0 was merely a fad, this book is a painless and even enjoyable way of joining in and putting new tools into practice. Sauers is a seasoned librarian, with thirteen years' experience in technology training for librarians, and this is his ninth book.

Geared toward librarians, or anyone who does extensive web searching, the book's initial emphasis is on just how much has changed for searchers since 2000. The book offers practical instruction on how to update skills and acquire search strategies to navigate Web 2.0 and incorporate it into daily reference work. A number of these tools and concepts are covered in depth and presented as learning modules that the reader can put to immediate use. While a Web 2.0–savvy reader may still learn a trick or two from this book, the focus is on those without much Web 2.0 experience.

The author explains the three most important considerations of Web 2.0 affecting librarians:

• convergence of multiple resources and/or platforms into other new resources

• remixability, the combining of data from more multiple sources into a new single output

• participation, which is cited as the most important consideration and allows users to create, organize, and cross-reference their content with others on the web; all of these references are organized by user-generated tags, resulting in “folksonomies”; as opposed to expert-driven taxonomies, “A folksonomy… is a constantly evolving set of descriptors generated by people who may have no idea what they're talking about beyond their own particular examples” (p. 7)

The author has written an effective how-to manual, beginning with the preface that details how to utilize the book in the best manner. Basic definitions are covered in chapter one, then chapter two includes an overview of getting organized with Delicious, a method for organizing personal bookmarks. In addition, the author recommends this social bookmarking resource as a way for libraries to share links by subject with users without having to create web pages for that purpose. To prove the point, he provides the link to his Searching 2.0 bookmarks (eleven pages worth) on Delicious.

Chapter three examines the three most popular search engines: Google, Microsoft's Live Search, and Yahoo!Search, including features relevant to Web 2.0 searching. Additionally, tricks such as using Google to do math, convert currency, and get stock quotes are noted. Features common to each of the search engines—such as advanced search, language tools, geographically limited searches, and so on—are also covered.

Chapter four delves into Wikipedia, including searching tips, editing content, and citing. Controversies surrounding Wikipedia are also discussed. Chapter five discusses searching for media, such as images, audio, and video files, formats very popular with the public in Web 2.0. The resources included are Flickr, YouTube, and Podscope.

Chapter six covers local searches or ways to locate venues in a particular community without having to rely on telephone books, print maps, and so on. Featured are Google Maps and Windows Live Local, which is even more interactive, allowing search results to be sent to email, mobile phones, global positioning system (GPS) devices, and so on.

Chapter seven covers searching in print materials using Google Book Search and Amazon.com's “Search Inside the Book.” Google's “Library Project” is briefly discussed, then full-text searching of all books in the database is detailed. A great resource for doing comprehensive research when one is not limited to the descriptors or fields generally searchable in online catalogs, Google Book Search also provides lists of libraries holding any given book for interlibrary loan (ILL) purposes. The author says that the copyright issues of this tool are still being worked out. The section on Amazon.com deals mostly with AmazonOnlineReader.

Chapter eight teaches how to look into past web content and locate pages that have changed over the years. Google Cache and the Wayback Machine are recommended tools for this type of searching. Wikipedia's history feature is also discussed. The last three chapters discuss OpenSearch, desktop search options, and future searching models using data visualization.

While this book could be read from beginning to end, it lends itself to selecting topics of greater interest to the reader and prioritizing from there. Each chapter includes an introduction with background information and an explanation of the usefulness of the resources. Step-by-step instructions for learning, including a generous number of screen shots and helpful examples, are provided. Also exercises with reference question types help cover the material in a practical way. Lastly, author's notes at the conclusion of each chapter consist of a mixture of web references, personal musings, and advice.

The main strengths of this book are derived from the author's expertise; his informal, readable writing style; and the timeliness of the subject matter, specifically the focus on searching Web 2.0. The book's format, together with the logical structure of each chapter, facilitates learning. The variety of topics helps create an enjoyable experience.