Academic research is not one of them.  Librarians often bemoan what Google does badly (like finding all the useful papers for assignments) but here are 21 things Google now does that are really rather useful in everyday life. http://twentytwowords.com/google-tricks-and-shortcuts-that-will-make-your-daily-life-much-easier/?utm_source=socialmob&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=article-or-quiz-name&utm_content=1534