Issue 3 of eLucidate for 2015 opens with the Google top team's founding assertion that they were never going to be a 'conventional company', nor had any intention of becoming one. Karen Blakeman offers her take on the all-singing, all-dancing, all-embracing Alphabet, pondering over the impact it may or may not have on the quality of search technologies going forwards. She follows up with practical outcomes from recent UKeiG workshops, articulating recommended Google search tips, but also jettisoning the omnipresent search tool for a moment to consider alternative research resources and techniques. If you want to kick the Google habit, your rehab starts here.
UKeiG prides itself on the support we give to continuing professional development and are delighted to publish an article co-written by the winner of our Early Career Award for 2015. It is a fascinating overview of the opportunities and challenges facing information professionals in schools. How are they grappling with curricula changes and the transition to and interface with higher education and the workplace? In this issue we also publish two complementary reports from July's CILIP conference in Liverpool written by the successful recipients of our CILIP conference bursary ward. Lots of food for thought here. My highlight is the assertion (and potential exam question for future information professionals): 'We shouldn't be worrying about competition from Google, or Apple, or Amazon - they are advertising companies, not information services.' Discuss...
This issue also features a web and social media contribution from Martin De Saulles focusing on Twitter analytics with a useful resource that utilises the benchmark of 'social authority' to enable you to pan for gold when it comes to seeking out valuable contacts. By identifying high quality people to follow you will, in turn, transform the quality of your tweeps overnight.
Emily Stannard updates us on the recent amendments to copyright legislation and highlights some fascinating challenges to the digital community around new exceptions, including the copying of large volumes of content for text and data analysis and making content available on 'dedicated workstations.'
Information management guru Martin White offers some insight into the cognitive barriers that impact on search; personal behaviours that can override even the most intuitive of interfaces. Most interesting for me was the ongoing conflict between relevance and effort; those occasions when barriers to access to the full text compel a researcher to abandon the resource.
This and more await you in issue 3.
I am Gary Horrocks, the editor, and am keen to receive contributions from the membership. Maybe you have something to share with UKeiG members in the next issue? Drop me an email if you want to get involved at [log in to unmask]
web: http://www.cilip.org.uk/uk-einformation-group/elucidate/elucidate-current-issue
PDF: http://www.cilip.org.uk/sites/default/files/documents/elucidate_12_3_0.pdf
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