Ms. Dewey Search Engine
October 18, 2006 at 11:30 am Janie Hermann 3 comments
Okay, I am struggling to find words to describe the experience that is the new Ms. Dewey search engine. A colleague forwarded the link to me just a few minutes ago and I have been sitting here a little stunned by it ever since. Make sure your sound is on and make sure you give it time to load as it is worth the wait.
I thought this would be a nice addition to the discussion lately on stereotypes that came about from the Naughty Librarian costume. Honestly, what were the people who made this search enginge thinking?
{sarcasm mode on}
What I like “best” about this search engine is that if you wait long enough she yells at you to ask her more information so she can rule the world — the goofy faces and other actions are pretty special too. Oh, and the fact that you have to wait several seconds for a small list of search results makes it very worthwhile to put up with her over-the-top antics.
{sarcasm mode off}
I hope someone can make better sense of this site than I can.
Edited to Add: It seems Ms. Dewey is getting a lot of attention today and is being desribed as Saucy and a Goddess and as Google’s Soulmate.
Entry filed under: Uncategorized.
Library Garden 
1.
brian | October 18, 2006 at 3:00 pm
Changing the face of librarianship!!!
2.
Anonymous | October 24, 2006 at 12:08 pm
Amusing… ask her “what do you read?” or put in a typo, and see what happens.
3.
Anonymous | November 7, 2006 at 11:13 am
Virtual librarians don’t need to be as saucy as Ms. Dewey! Stella, the chatbot of the State and University Library in Hamburg (Germany) has been online for two years and really knows her stuff! Talk to her at http://www.sub.uni-hamburg.de – in German only, I’m afraid, but an slides from a presentation on Stella in English can be found here
Cheers,
Anne