Google isn't a good place to go for academic search, right? Wrong. Google, when used properly, can yield some pretty good results. It's important, however, to be aware of the way Google orders its search results, and to realize that sites must be carefully checked for credibility before use.
Of course, the documents in which your search terms appear most frequently appear near the top of the list. (Although it's important to not that Google does not always search the entire document, only the first 500 Kilobits of it.) However, Google also gives priority to sites that other sites have referenced (provided links to on their page). Basically, Google is assuming that if other sites reference a site, that site must be credible, or at least popular. However, a manufacturer can manipulate these results by creating thousands of blogs that all link to the company's homepage, which may or may not be what you're looking for.
Google also give priority to sites which they think are credible. For example, when "global warming hurricanes" is entered in the search box, an article from noaa.gov is the first result. However, just because a site has a domain name usually associated with credibility (.org, .gov, .edu) doesn't mean they're not biased. Sure, they may present factual information, but they may emphasize information that supports their agenda and omit information which makes readers think twice about their organization. Or, their information may be just plain untrue. For example http://www.martinlutherking.org/ looks (at first glance) like it would be a credible site. After all, it has a .org at the end! In actuality, it's a slanderous defamation against the famous man published by a white supremacy group. The really disturbing thing is that it's the fourth result when "Martin Luther King Jr" is typed into the google search box.
Once you're aware that these problems exist, however, Google is a great resource.
Of course, the documents in which your search terms appear most frequently appear near the top of the list. (Although it's important to not that Google does not always search the entire document, only the first 500 Kilobits of it.) However, Google also gives priority to sites that other sites have referenced (provided links to on their page). Basically, Google is assuming that if other sites reference a site, that site must be credible, or at least popular. However, a manufacturer can manipulate these results by creating thousands of blogs that all link to the company's homepage, which may or may not be what you're looking for.
Google also give priority to sites which they think are credible. For example, when "global warming hurricanes" is entered in the search box, an article from noaa.gov is the first result. However, just because a site has a domain name usually associated with credibility (.org, .gov, .edu) doesn't mean they're not biased. Sure, they may present factual information, but they may emphasize information that supports their agenda and omit information which makes readers think twice about their organization. Or, their information may be just plain untrue. For example http://www.martinlutherking.org/ looks (at first glance) like it would be a credible site. After all, it has a .org at the end! In actuality, it's a slanderous defamation against the famous man published by a white supremacy group. The really disturbing thing is that it's the fourth result when "Martin Luther King Jr" is typed into the google search box.
Once you're aware that these problems exist, however, Google is a great resource.
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