ARIN6912 Week 3 Presentation

1. “JUST GOOGLE IT!”
The Google Algorithm as a Knowledge
Producer
Agnes Mei Morrison, ARIN6912, 3/22/2012

2. “The Algorithm”
• Information on the web expanding too fast to be indexed
by humans
• The algorithm‟s results should not be touched by human
intervention
• Automated processes  authority, legitimacy
• Google News
• Ineffective because news is dynamic; the algorithm cannot seek out
patterns effectively, skewing rankings
• Google Translate
• Effective because language is more static than news; the algorithm
has time to recognize patterns and learn

3. Objectivity?
• Dominance in terms of
both functionality and
reach
• Association with
objectivity and science
• “Objective rationality of
science” (D‟Andrade,
Spiro) is a false
construction
http://www.websalad.com.au/wp-
content/uploads/google-quality-score.png

4. Sociocultural Impacts of Google‟s
Dominance
• Googling synonymous
with search
• Paradigm shift from
knowledge possession
digital literacy (Pew
study, Rheingold)
• Limits access to
information when
http://images.theage.com.au/2011/12/18/2846921/
completeness assumed TAH_google_LW_151011_2011121819453274144
1-420x0.jpg
• SEO as a field

5. Google Scholar
• Algorithm ranks
academic articles
• Articles quantitatively
weighted
• Based primarily on
citations
• Is this the most valid
http://metarand.com/wp-
procedure for treating
content/uploads/2009/11/Google-Scholar-
300x211.jpg
scholarly articles?

6. How Scholar Impacts Knowledge
Production
• “First page limitation”; people may not seek out
information that is not highly ranked
• Lack of transparency/ disclosure (van Djick)
• Google does not have access to all academic journals and
sources; people may assume completeness though
• Google does not publicize their policies on updating information on
Scholar
• Google Scholar as a supernode (Castells) encourages
users to go through it instead of directly to academic
journal websites
• Self-reflexive awareness of algorithmic biases and
processes is critical to producing effective scholarship

7. Resources I
• Science’s cultural positioning
• D‟Andrade, R. (1995), „Moral Models in Anthropology‟, Current Anthropology 36(3): 399- 408.
• D‟Andrade is critical of postmodern critiques of science but effectively and efficiently
summarizes them.
• Latour, B. (1983), „Give Me a Laboratory and I Will Raise the World,‟ in Karin D. Knorr-Cetina
and Michael Mulkay eds., Science Observed: Perspectives on the Social Study of Science.
London: Sage Publications.
•
• Digital literacy
• Andersen, J. and Rainie, L. (2012), Millenials Will Benefit and Suffer Due to their
Hyperconnected Lives [online], available at <
http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Hyperconnected-lives.aspx>
• Jones, J. (2011), „Howard Rheingold: Understanding Search Algorithms‟, Public Intelligence
Blog, [blog] 8 December, Available at: < http://www.phibetaiota.net/2011/12/howard-
rheingold-understanding-search-algorithms> [Accessed 22 March 2012]
• Rheingold, H. (2011), Adora Svitak: A 12 Year Old on Digital Literacy, online video, accessed
22 March 2012, <http://vlog.rheingold.com>.
• Rheingold has a conversation with a young woman about digital literacies, describing his
own theories of the five digital literacies (attention, participation, credibility [assessment of
the veracity of information online], collaboration, network awareness).

8. Resources II
• Networks and power
• Castells, M. (2005), „Communication, Power and Counter-Power in the Network
Society‟, International Journal of Communication 1: 238- 266.
• Castells, M. (2009), Communication Power. London: Oxford University Press.
•
• Interrogating the search engine
• Adlington, J. and Benda, C. (2005), „Checking Under the Hood: Evaluating
Google Scholar for Reference Use‟, Internet Reference Services Quarterly
10(3/4): 135- 148.
• Cathcart, R. and Roberts, A. (2005), „Evaluating Google Scholar as a Tool for
Information Literacy‟, Internet Reference Services Quarterly 10(3/4): 167- 176.
• Van Dijck, J. (2010), „Search Engines and the Production of Academic
Knowledge‟, International Journal of Cultural Studies 13(6): 574- 592.
• Hargittai, E. (2007), „The Social, Political, Economic and Cultural Dimensions of
Search Engines: An Introduction‟, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication
12(3): 769- 777.
• Taylor, S. (2007), „Google Scholar—Friend or Foe?‟, Interlending and Document
Supply 35(1): 4-6.