Computer Literacy Essay

Searching for information on Google is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Is that true? Was the library of the 19th century more efficient? Explain.

Searching for information using any search engine can be compared to trying to find a needle in a haystack. There is definitely a sense of information overload when using a search engine such as Google because there are no filters used to sort through the information. Because anyone can contribute to the Web this causes a problem when trying to find information that is true and accurate. This can sometimes cause the reader to make the wrong decisions or no decision at all. The use of a search engine can be time consuming and frustrating but also gives us access to material that would previously be impossible and we can get this all in one place.

The library of the 19th century is considered more efficient than searching for information on Google, but it is really like comparing apples to oranges. Google as a search engine does so much more than what is expected from a visit to the library and has far more information to search through. A visit to the library can be considered pleasant and orderly whereas trying to search for information on Google is arduous, tedious and sometimes frustrating.

How is searching in a specific database, such as Ashford’s library, different than searching in Bing, Google, or Yahoo?

As our text refers there are two types of databases that handle information online. The first is a public domain database, which is totally free and accessible to anyone as long as they have a computer and an internet connection. Examples of these types of database are Bing, Google, or Yahoo. The second is a proprietary database which is only able to be accessed through membership or subscription such as Ashford University Online Library. This library can only be accessed by students and faculty.                       One of the main differences between these two databases is that the...