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Google has a secret reference desk

Nice article. But the warning can be stronger imho: Instead of: "Don’t assume your results are the same as anyone else’s."

"The results search you get from G*gle results are unique."

G*gle does not use the easy to use Lucene search syntax but has many 'magic' things, like:

Searching for high-quality Open Access content or solid technical answers on software challenges requires a rigorous scientific methodology, combined with creativity and extensive experience. Despite being a crucial competency, it is rarely taught in depth.

Even with the rise of LLMs, effectively navigating search results remains an unsolved problem.

4 hours agorunningmike

I don't get the difference between "verbatim" and quotation marks between words

3 hours agoTacite

All of that and only as an aside mentioning the best search engine for quality information: Google Scholar. Academics publish stuff about just about everything which is often open access and the search seems to include some blogs these days, not just formal journals.

6 hours agojoveian

And again Stuttgart City Library. It has almost become the default image of a library.

7 hours agoTomte

This reminds me of a problem we hit at work. Ended up going a different direction but same root issue.