Friday, November 20, 2009

Humorous Metaphor of the Day

I had a discussion with a colleague today about the use of Google Scholar in cited reference counts for faculty being considered for promotion and/or tenure. I suggested she research the topic using a database covering the library literature. She found this article which was quite on the mark:

Jacso, P. (2009). GOOGLE SCHOLAR'S GHOST AUTHORS. Library Journal, 134(18), 26-27. Retrieved from Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts database.

There was a statement by Professor Jasco there which was quite humorous:

"Google Scholar's publication/citation counts and metadata for bibliometric and scientometric evaluations too often resemble Bernie Madoff's profit numbers. Just as investors preferred the nonexistent reality described by Madoff's tally, users may like the publication/citation counts reported by GS and the many inflated indicators derived from them."

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