I agree with your and GLaDOS's points. However, this was not the impression of the course I got ahead of time. I expected it to be aimed at 'power users' trying to step it up to the next level. The advanced topics in part 3 can be summed up with "click on the advanced search button and then fill in the form". This is a problem with my expectations for the course more than a problem with the course itself. But that doesn't mean I'm not still disappointed - I wanted the black art of searching straight from the masters themselves.

OTOH, with the text transcripts, I can turn these 50-minute classes into about 10 minutes if I already know the material with little chance of skipping any new stuff, so I'm definitely continuing and don't consider it a waste of time or anything.