Clouds, pigeons and clever spiders with cameras. Izak Minnaar used these bizarre terms to explain sophisticated search engine algorithms in a workshop on using Google search tools, at the Highway Africa conference last week.
Clouds, pigeons and clever spiders with cameras. Izak Minnaar used these bizarre terms to explain sophisticated search engine algorithms in a workshop on using Google search tools, at the Highway Africa conference last week.
“You have to think like the internet,” said Minnaar, head of South African Broadcasting Corporation’s (SABC) news research.
Minnaar said his workshop is important for reporters, because “no journalist can work these days without using the internet”.
He described the internet as a library on your desktop, and said “the moment you start using the internet effectively, a new world opens up”.
Minnaar encouraged journalists to develop a “document frame of mind”, which means to search for words one would expect to find in a document. “You want less results, but better results,” he emphasised.
Minnaar explained that when you do a Google search you’re actually searching Google’s database, not the internet, and therefore, the information is not real-time or ‘live’.
The database is made up of spiders with cameras; software that “crawls” the web, taking pictures of sites, anticipating what you’re looking for.
The problem with these traditional search engines is that 90% of the information is missed. There are five different kinds of search engines; traditional search engines (like Google), deep web/invisible web searches, specialised/targeted search tools, real-time search and directories.
Just before the workshop, an unscheduled internet outage occurred at the university. Fortunately for Google employees Julie Taylor and Jacqueline Rajuai, Google South Africa was one of the few accessible websites.
Taylor explained that she doesn’t even carry a memory stick anymore. She uses what is called “the cloud”, a group of online software, such as Google Docs, to store all her work.
She said the workshop was important, because journalists don’t understand the “opportunities the internet can offer”.
Rajuai focused on enriching African journalism with Google Maps content. Google launched Street View in South Africa three weeks ago, which covers 40 000 miles of South Africa.
Google Maps provides directions, like a GPS. Rajuai demonstrated how to get directions from Nairobi to Grahamstown, which is 5 005 km apart, and would take approximately two days and 17 hours to cover the distance by car without stopping. Google Maps currently covers 90% of the African continent.
Like every country where Street View has been introduced, there has been some controversy over the software, notably crime and security being an issue in South Africa.
Taylor confirmed that provisions are being made, and that anyone can have images flagged and removed on request.
Minnaar said the internet can’t replace old school journalism practices of going out and interviewing, “but it can greatly enhance stories”.
The PowerPoint slides used during the presentation can be accessed at www.wjec.ru.ac.za.
