Web Search: Multidisciplinary Perspectives / Edition 1

by Amanda Spink, Michael Zimmer

Overview

The inspiration for this book emerged from the editors’ participation in a panel d- cussion on Web search engines at an annual meeting of the Association of Internet Researchers. This multidisciplinary panel of Web search researches revealed the diversity of scholars interested in Web searching, coupled with a broad range of questions, attitudes, and approaches. It became clear that more “cross-fertilization” was necessary between the disciplines to ensure Web search engines (the entities) and Web searching (the user behavior) received the thorough scholarly attention they deserved. This book is a result of that realization, and an important first step in achieving new levels of awareness and collaboration across disciplines. The book represents a core theme within the intellectual pursuits of the editors. The first editor (Spink) is an information scientist who has worked with, taught and has researched the informational dimensions of Web searching since 1997. The second editor (Zimmer) is a scholar of culture and communication who focuses on the political and ethical dimensions of new media and information technologies, and whose dissertation research focused on the value-related consequences of the quest for the “perfect” search engine.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783540758280
Publisher:	Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Publication date:	03/11/2008
Series:	Information Science and Knowledge Management , #14
Edition description:	2008
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.04(d)

Table of Contents

Social, Cultural, and Philosophical Perspectives.- Through the Google Goggles: Sociopolitical Bias in Search Engine Design.- Reconsidering the Rhizome: A Textual Analysis of Web Search Engines as Gatekeepers of the Internet.- Exploring Gendered Notions: Gender, Job Hunting and Web Searches.- Searching Ethics: The Role of Search Engines in the Construction and Distribution of Knowledge.- The Gaze of the Perfect Search Engine: Google as an Infrastructure of Dataveillance.- Political, Legal, and Economic Perspectives.- Search Engine Liability for Copyright Infringement.- Search Engine Bias and the Demise of Search Engine Utopianism.- The Democratizing Effects of Search Engine Use: On Chance Exposures and Organizational Hubs.- ‘Googling’ Terrorists: Are Northern Irish Terrorists Visible on Internet Search Engines?.- The History of the Internet Search Engine: Navigational Media and the Traffic Commodity.- Information Behavior Perspectives.- Toward a Web Search Information Behavior Model.- Web Searching for Health: Theoretical Foundations and Connections to Health Related Outcomes.- Search Engines and Expertise about Global Issues: Well-defined Landscape or Undomesticated Wilderness?.- Conceptual Models for Search Engines.- Web Searching: A Quality Measurement Perspective.- Conclusion.- Conclusions and Further Research.

Editorial Reviews

Aus den Rezensionen:

"… Unter bewusster Ausklammerung rein technischer Sichtweisen wird das Phänomen der Suchmaschinen … aus verschiedenen gesellschaftsorientierten Perspektiven in den Blick genommen. … Insgesamt bietet der Band einen gehaltvollen Überblick über die Vielfalt der aktuellen Ansätze der Suchmaschinenforschung. Das Niveau der Beiträge ist durchgehend hoch … Angesichts der Vielzahl der unterschiedlichen fachspezifischen Perspektiven ist es den Herausgebern hoch anzurechnen, dass sie … Bezüge zwischen den Beiträgen herstellen … Nicht zuletzt durch diesen systematisierenden Ansatz stellt der Band einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Weiterentwicklung dieses … Forschungsfelds dar …" (Theo Röhle, in: M&K - Medien und kommunikationswissenschaft, 2009, Vol. 57, Issue 1, S. 82 ff.)

From the Publisher