I've been reading the new book Web Dragons: Inside the Myths of Search Engine Technology by Ian Witten, Marco Gori, and Teresa Numerico. It appears to touch on most every issue that concerns search engines including technical workings, history, philosophy, and ethics. It's a bit quirky (in its illustrations and the perhaps-too-broad audience it tries to address), but I like it so far. It seems fairly academically rigorous, but written and designed for a popular audience as well.
From the book description:
Search engines—“web dragons”—are the portals through which we access society’s treasure trove of information. How do they stack up against librarians, the gatekeepers over centuries past? What role will libraries play in a world whose information is ruled by the web? How is the web organized? Who controls its contents, and how do they do it? How do search engines work? How can web visibility be exploited by those who want to sell us their wares? What’s coming tomorrow, and can we influence it? We are witnessing the dawn of a new era, starting right now—and this book shows you what it will look like and how it will change your world.
Link: Web Dragons - WebSite.
Recent Comments