Future search

ResourceShelf: "'One thing [Google's Craig] Silverstein does like to talk about is his long-range goal for search technology, which he believes is still in its infancy. 'It's clear that the answer [to search] is not a ranked list of Web sites,' he says. No one expects to approach a librarian, ask a question about the Panama Canal, and get 50 book titles in response, he argues. Silverstein thinks information retrieval experts should aim high, building software that is every bit as good at pointing users toward the specific resources they need as a well-trained reference librarian.'"