One can argue that information is information, wherever you may find it. However, especially in a day and age where anyone can post just about anything to the web, there is increasingly the question of quality. Add to that the academic environment's demand for intellectual rigor and originality, and it becomes more imperative to make sure your sources meet standards of credibility.
What I think sets the Hunt Library apart from a standard Google search is the scope of the information you have to sift through. Assuming a general Google search (and not the Google Scholar option), you'll likely pull up a number studies and articles, and these can very well be on legitimate news sites or academic sites. But you'll also likely end up with a scattering of Wikipedia related articles or posts from community blogs and forums that, although potentially interesting perspectives to look at, do not carry the highest guarantee of credibility for research or academic writing. It also should be noted that Google does make a measure of profit off of advertisement, and one way this is done is by posting a pertinent advertised result at the very top of the search list. In the context of a search on leadership, this will likely yield multiple results in the area of leadership courses, self help books, consultants, etc. That's not to say Google should be entirely ruled out. If used carefully, it does have the potential to find newer information, and is very useful for finding graphics or videos you may want to use in a presentation.
With a library search, you have the benefit of a tighter scope and more rigorous standards, as the main customer of a library search is the student or an academic working under their respective considerations for work. Besides that, there are other tertiary benefits, one of which includes the availability of the library's database subscriptions. Rather than having to scour through available magazines at the local bookseller, or wading through a large body of articles in multiple subjects, you can usually select a subject database and have a list of pertinent, highly respectable sources. For example, the Hunt Library has a Defense/Military subject, which can lead me to a database for Jane's or Air University. There is also the opportunity available to contact a reference librarian and get some additional research assistance if required. While this may be a drier and less colorful means of searching, and while you may still have to sift for the pertinent information, you will have potentially less doubt about a source and may be better able to utilize it towards a paper or project.The main catch, of course, is understanding the library's or database's search functions well enough to find what you need with minimum stress.
At the very end of the day though, much of the responsibility for verifying the usefulness and legitimacy will fall upon those who use the data for their own purposes. Much of the world's information, whether obtained from Google or from the Hunt Library, has its use or place in the thoughts of the people. The key is to take appropriate measures, to include critical thinking, to ensure the information received will in fact enable the greater discovery of truth or continued advancement of our fields of study.
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