Searching for Google

Back in 2004 Craig Silverstein, Director of Technology at Google said: "My guess is about 300 years until computers are as good as, say, your local reference library in doing search. But we can make slow and steady progress, and maybe one day we'll get there."

This was an interesting admission by a senior manager of the leading internet search company - acknowledging the expert skills of librarians in a public forum.

Fast forward to 2006 and the buzz on a number of library-related discussion groups is that Google wants health librarians to volunteer their services to help build one of their sites, Google Health.

While I'm sure many librarians are delighted to be asked to contribute, perhaps Google could show it's appreciation of these specialised skills by paying for them. Does Google expect the IT professionals employed on the Google Health site to offer their services for free? I doubt it! Google employees (Googlers) enjoy some of the best employee benefits around.

Google is estimated to be worth around $20 billion. So why does Google expect professional services from librarians for nothing?

Has it something to do with the fact that libraries and librarians are seen traditionally as giving information away for free? Or is it something else?

I do not want to "shut the down the internet to save the libraries" (I, Robot - movie version), but just some acknowledgment that the library, and librarians still provide valuable information services and skills in a world where many of us "google" the internet for a quick fix of info.