Collaboration

The Theme of Communication

Throughout the course of this semester, LIS 201 has inherently displayed the theme of an information society based on collaboration and constant communication. Although advances in technology have certainly led to a digital divide, and have unfortunately left less privileged and unfortunate nations behind, automation has allowed for individuals across the world to be in consistent connection. This idea was most certainly expressed in the context of The Google Boys as well, as Bring and Page highlighted that allowing users to access whatever information they want at the click of a button was one of the foremost goals. As a result, the two founders and functioning operators of Google showed in their story of success their focus on empowering the individual by giving them what they want.

From the beginning, Page has used to term “reference librarian” to describe Google as a host of endless information that is also categorized and presented in the order of which a user is most likely looking for. Google has successfully taken advantage of search engine optimization and the feedback provided by cooperating with civilians to get a better idea of what users are interested in and attracted to when carrying out their quest for information. Specifically, like the introduction of technology in to the classroom, Google has enabled the individual to learn at their own pace, and follow up on topics they want to gain more exposure to. As written in “No Child Left Untableted”, technology’s role is “to facilitate learning” (Rotella, 2013). Brin and Page show in their book that their customer service department is instilled with the message that they must guarantee its users at all times, Google pledge’s to provide valid and relevant information.

Furthermore, in working with the users of its service, Google has been able to form partnerships and join forces with other companies in order to mutually benefit. They have particularly followed up on the idea of advertising from the print culture era. For proof, Google uses something they call “co-branding” to become the back end search engine at other sites. In similar terms, as people are advised to use Google when on other websites, they return the favor by allowing companies to place ads in the corners of their search engine. As a result, Google uses dataveillance to keep track of what people search for and click, and contact advertising departments of different companies to suggest placing ads on computer screens in certain geographic regions in return for linking their search engine to information on these businesses web pages. This whole idea undoubtedly signifies the theme of collaboration and working together to attain a common goal of being as profitable and well received as possible.

Rotella, Carlo. "No Child Left Untableted." New York Times 12 Sept. 2013: 1-12. The New York Times. Web. 18 Dec. 2014.