People's search engine skills not very good.

I love this article from the Houston Chronicle which talks about information literacy. It seems that many college students and indeed many people in general don't know how to use a search engine properly. And from the way it sounds it's mostly about people not having a critical eye about information online. There are many times when people don't distinguish between paid ads and natural search results. That can be important if you're trying to do research and not just trying to find something to buy. But it seems that there's this perception that people aren't using search engines to their full advantage.

Another problem that people seem to be having when they search for information is not being able to determine whether it's a credible source of information or not. The article cites that people tend to believe what's on their screen, much like they used to believe what was in a newspaper. But a newspaper has an editorial screening process and certain standards for making sure the information is correct. Many web sites don't have that, well most don't. That's an issue for today when we're trying to find good information and not just accept everything blindly.

The other area where people are having problems is the way they search. They're usually far too general and when they do get specific, they're getting information that may not be related to what they really wanted. Anyway, the article is very good and explains some of the things that many of us know about people and how the search. If you're a student of search, you'll see these issues come up again and again. You have to actually tailor your web offering for poor searching skills by default. That's just the way it is right now.

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