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I don’t know why I procrastinated doing this write up. I jumped right in
to the project and I had great fun exploring Google. I had used some of the special Google features in the past. I’m addicted to real estate searches in warm climates and I usually hop between the MLS and maps to see how close to the ocean the houses really are situated! For the purposes of this exercise I looked up the address of my childhood house. I could not only explore the old neighborhhood remotely, but there was actually a picture of the house. (Somewhere along the line a foolish owner chopped down the mountain laurel.) The day I chose the search news was the day Governor Blagojevich was arrested. Needless to say there was a multitude of sites available. I decided later to search a less prominent event. There was a small earthquake in SC near where my son is stationed. The search led to two news videos and hundreds of print reports. This was a very easy and specific search. Product searching was entertaining, but there were too many commercial/item sale sites. I much prefer our traditional library tools for product evaluations. The book search similarly led to many book sale sites, but happily also included online versions. I searched for Hilaire Belloc’s Cautionary Tales for Children and happily the University of Virginia’s copy has been digitized. So when I have a late night yen for some of this delicious poetry I don’t have to wait till the library opens! There are so many things to explore on Google. I also recommend a trial of Google Scholar when you are looking for more “sophisticated” results.
