Over the past few weeks I’ve come across work done by Siva Vaidhyanathan, a media studies professor at the University of Virginia. The first reference that I saw of him was on the First Monday website which linked to a podcast he had done for that site as well as a lecture when he was at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The title of the lecture, The Googlization of Everything, is also the title of his new book. This may not seem like a big deal to most, but Vaidhyanathan raises some interesting questions about Google and its status in our society today. What is it doing with Google Books and how does that influence us and copyright is one of the questions he has raised. The new book that he’s working on is also part of the Web 2.0 phenomenon because he is posting bits of his book (or at least questions that he has raised) on his book’s blog so that people can comment and help refine the book. He says:
“This blog…is dedicated to exploring the process of writing a critical interpretation of the actions and intentions behind the cultural behemoth that is Google, Inc. The book will answer three key questions: What does the world look like through the lens of Google?; How is Google’s ubiquity affecting the production and dissemination of knowledge?; and how has the corporation altered the rules and practices that govern other companies, institutions, and states?”
As he says at the end of his lecture, “Are we getting a good deal out of this?” That’s something that we in the library world have to wrestle with on a daily basis with the encroachment of Google into our collections through their digitzation projects. For those who aren’t librarians, it’s a question you have to deal with too. Your students use Google and it influences their study. It’ll be interesting to see where he goes with the book. I have an idea that he’s very skeptical and worried (yes, his subtitle says “we should worry”) but he’s also very intrigued by the prospects that Google offers.
I am by no means as educated as Vaidhyanathan on topics like copyright law, but I am very intrigued by Google and its impact on our society. It has become a cultural force that is to be reckoned with. And, it also knows a lot about you, especially if you have a Google Account like I do. The question is is how much information about ourselves do we want to give up about ourselves for access to the resources and services that Google offers? In a world where people post very personal information on websites like Facebook, Myspace, and their blogs, does it really make a difference? I don’t have an answer to these questions, but they sure makes you think.
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March 25, 2008 at 9:27 am
[...] but it gives one pause about how much data Google collects on its users. I’ve touched on it before, and it’ll probably come up again, but how much information about its users is too much? At [...]