A Google Smorgasbord
by Jing Liu ~ June 7th, 2006. Filed under: Events.SLA WCC and CASLIS present:
A Google Smorgasbord
Come learn about the latest Google developments while you meet and mingle with colleagues from SLA and CASLIS on a sunny Vancouver patio!
Thursday, June 22, 2006
5:00 – 8:00 pm
Terminal City ClubYour ticket includes a fabulous canape buffet. There will be a cash bar.
PROGRAM DETAILS
5:00 pm: Registration. Cash bar opens.
5:15 pm: Canape buffet opens.
5:45 pm: “A Google Smorgasbord” (panel discussion)
7:00 pm: Mingling, networking, nibbling and noshing
8:00 pm: Wrap-up
PRESENTATIONS
Geoff Peters: How Google Shapes Online Popularity
The craft of making websites that rank highly on the Google search engine has been shrouded in mystery until recently. Whether you have a personal interest web site or a business, Search Engine Marketing/Optimization is a topic that all webmasters should know about. Geoff will explain some basic techniques that led to his success on Google with his web sites. These techniques include: focusing on creating valuable and original content, keyword targeting, and linking.
Kay Cahill: Making Google Tools Work in an Information Setting
As more and more products and services emerge from Google Labs, how can information professionals make these tools work for them? Are they just flashy novelties designed to catch the eye and keep attention on Google, or are they genuinely useful ways of interpreting search results and delivering information?
Eugene Barsky – “Google Scholar and the Future of Searching”
During this 20 minute overview we will look at the context in which Google Scholar has been developed, its strengths and weaknesses, and its subject coverage. We’ll also see how different libraries work with this tool.
SPEAKERS:
Geoff Peters recently graduated with a joint major in Computing Science and Business from SFU. He has worked as a software developer for Nokia Mobile Phones and Canada Safeway IT. He is the creator of Googleduel.com, a web site which uses the Google search engine to analyze the popularity of people, products, and names on the Internet. He is also the webmaster for FoodVancouver.com, a popular Vancouver dining guide. Geoff’s personal web site is at http://www.sfu.ca/~gpeters/
Kay Cahill is Vancouver Public Library’s Training and Virtual Services Librarian. Originally from the UK, she graduated from the Information Studies program at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth in 2004 before moving to Canada. Recent projects include developing and delivering IT and information literacy programs, monitoring and reporting on technology trends, and collaborating in the implementation of new technologies and software to enhance library services.
Eugene Barsky is Physiotherapy Outreach Librarian at the new Irving K. Barber Learning Centre at UBC, where he enjoys every moment implementing new Web 2.0 technologies into his outreach work with BC practicing physiotherapists. Previously employed by QLT Inc, a Vancouver-based pharmaceutical company, he has an intriguing experience doing regulatory intelligence research in biotech industry. Eugene is the winner of 2005 SLA Scholarship and 2006 C. William Fraser Prize (Health Librarianship). Eugene’s blog – http://weblogs.elearning.ubc.ca/physio/
REGISTRATION:
To register, complete the online registration form and mail it, with your payment (cheque made out to SLA WCC), to:
Deb Hutchison, Vancouver Director
West Vancouver Memorial Library
Vancouver BC
V7V 1J8
Fees:
$21 for SLA and CASLIS members, students, and unemployed
$35 for non-members
VENUE
The Terminal City Club is located at 837 Hastings Street. Note that there is a dress-casual dress code – please, no jeans.
Thanks to our program sponsor Micromedia ProQuest
June 7th, 2006 at 3:09 pm
What an interesting topic! I’d love to go if I could, but unfortunately I’ll be leaving Vancouver on that day for my Co-op job.
I think it’s quite a significant event that the librarians will step out and talk about how to make use of Google. I’ve had an impression (at least from some of my Profs in the Library School) that it’s kind of shameful thing to ‘google’ info. for our patrons. And I have to admit whenever I recommended students to search Google(as the last resort)at the reference desk, I always felt kind of guilty to do so, even some kind of info. actually could be better found in Google than some of the fee-based databases, such as “government publications’.
June 7th, 2006 at 9:46 pm
At the April conference in San Francisco, an American librarian told me that she was suprised to see that I’ve linked Google Scholar to my home page, for it is not allowed at her library and she can only use Google for students as the last resort.
I had lots of trouble to provide our users seemless access to Chinese ejournals, but Google is making it. Google Scholar works with Wanfang and VIP from China and indexes all their articles, millions of them. It worked perfect for the most popular reference requests during last term’s final–2008 Beijing Olympics. Students could find articles in all different languages and from different points of view, and UBC eLink directed them to the full-texts.
Without Google Scholar, students have to search separetely in English and Chinese ejournal databases. One stop and single- interface search is what students want. It doesn’t matter whether or not librarians like Google!