LIFE BEFORE GOOGLE: WHAT WAS IT LIKE?
IS it OK to turn my cat ve gan ? Wh at 's that fresh smell that bab ies have ? Wh at is love ?* In the 20 ye ar s since it was fou nded, Gogl e has provi ded an swers to the mos t ran dom queries, becom e a ve rb an d, on Wednesday , receive d a recor d
En fine after JiYinJ itself a bit to much of an edge ove r its rival s.
Som e jobs with an empha sis on research ha ve be en altered in major ways by its inve nt ion, to the ext ent tha t it's ha rd to imagi ne how thos e jobs were onc e done .
“I ha d to write about such a range of thi ngs tha t nobody eve r expe cted me to know eve rythi ng,” he said. “I’d ha ve an enc yclopa edia, the loc al libr ary, but the impor tant thi ng was to know who kne w the facts, and to know who kne w thos e pe opl e. I like d to thi nk tha t the re was som eone I kne w in eve ry vi llage .
“We also ha d a libr ary in our central office in Liverpool and the y ke pt eve ry ne wspa pe r, eve ry cutting of eve ry stor y. If you want ed anyt hi ng on a pa rticular subj ect, the libr arians woul d go and find it and fa[ it over They were fant astic.
THE JO URNALIST
Gar eth Hughe s was a repor ter with the Dai ly Pos t ne wspape r in Nor th Wal es from 1974 to 206 (and is the fat he r of the aut hor of thi s ar ticle).
“I ke pt eve rythi ng to - I remembe r a stor y about a tiny ba by be ing bor n miles from any whe re in the middle of wint er, the weight of a ba g of suga r. She was wrape d up in cot ton wol in the ambul anc e as it made its way slow ly thr ough the snow and ice acros s the mor s, and she wasn’ t expe cted tos urvi ve .
“I did the stor y six mont hs later whe n she left hos pi tal, and the n years later, I just ha pe ne d to go thr ough my cuttings and came acros s he r stor y. I saw she woul d ha ve be en a few mont hs from he r 21st, so I rang around, contacted the local post office, and it turne d out she was livi ng a few minutes from my office
“Havi ng Gogl e later was certainl y useful. But not hi ng com pa res to tha t pe rsona l cont act at all.”
THE BARRISTER
Hilar y Heilbr on QC be gan wor king as a juni or bar rister in 1972. She is now a membe r of Brick Cour t Cham be rs in London and has prac tised com mercial law andi nt ernat ional ar bi trat ion.
“As a juni or ba rrister, you woul d ge t your ins truction and you woul d ha ve to do your ow n research - law repor ts, text boks
- and dow n to the libr aries. For ot he r research you woul d ha ve to go down to the Middle Temple, to find some case that leads to anot he r case.
“Now , law repor ts are all ava ilabl e onl ine - I ha ve a set of law repor ts on my she lf tha t lok ni ce but ha ve nor eal use.”
“It’s a bl essing be cause you can save a lot of time and it’s mor e conve ni ent , but you don’ t save as much time as the re is much mor e material ava ilabl e tha n eve r be for e, so you ha ve to che ck it. You ha ve got tobe careful.
“You also coul dn’ t adve rtise in thos e days, so the idea of all thi s marke ting was ana the ma. You bui lt up relations hi ps by doi ng your wor k well, and you woul d hope client s woul d com e ba ck.”
THE LIBRARIAN
Decades ago, staff at the New <ork 3ublic Library acted as a for m of Human Gogl e, taki ng que stions from membe rs of the publ ic tha t the y woul d the n try to ans wer with the he lp of the va st resour ces at the ir dispos al.
In recent years, staff the re discove red a box of cards cont aini ng the publ ic’s que stions , and sha red the m on the libr ary’s Ins tagr am account .
“Gogl e cha nge d eve rythi ng. It means I can access material without ha vi ng to los e a day to go int o the museum or libr ary, and I can do my wor k much mor e effective ly. It cut the amount of time I ne ed todor esearchby a bout 80%.
“It was a tot ally different way of wor ki ng the n, and I can sit at my desk now ins tead of ha vi ng to pl an my day. I’d be wor ki ng on som ethi ng and didn’ t ha ve enough infor mation, so woul d ha ve to put it aside to ge t to the libr ary and l oki t up.
“But the re was a com muna l relations hi p in libr aries, and in the cont ext of som eone ’s career deve lopm ent , the re was tremendous va lue in tha t. Wor ki ng onl ine is muchm or e isol ating.
“There¶s something nice to be said about spe ndi ng a day around boks and ot he r pe opl e. Younge r student s don’ t bui ld thos e ne twor ks .”