[12086] in Public-Access_Computer_Systems_Forum
No more "library reference service"?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Jack Kessler)
Mon Mar 23 20:07:14 1998
Date: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 18:38:27 -0600
From: Jack Kessler <kessler@well.com>
To: PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU
Reply-To: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU>
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Would someone please explain to me, calmly, why the following will _not_
replace "library reference service" as we now know it?: note the "library
- quality" label in what follows --
"DULLES, Va./WAYNE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 23, 1998--"
"America Online and Infonautics to Offer Premium, Library-Quality Online
Research Services in AOL's Workplace and Research & Learn Channels --
AOL Members to Have Online Access to Thousands of Periodicals,
Newspapers, Reference Books, Photos, Television Transcripts and More"
"AOL Interactive Services, the Internet online services division of
America Online Inc. (NYSE:AOL - news), and Infonautics Inc. (NASDAQ: INFO
- news), the provider of award-winning online research services, Monday
announced an agreement making Infonautics' Electric Library service the
exclusive provider of premium consumer and small business-oriented
research services promoted through anchor tenancies on the main screens
of AOL's WorkPlace and Research & Learn Channels."...
"Infonautics will offer AOL members access to information from
Infonautics' comprehensive database of well-known publications and
reference sources, including more than a thousand full-text newspapers
and magazines; scores of reference books; transcripts from dozens of
daily and weekly television and radio programs; more than 50,000 photos
and images; more than 1,000 maps; book, movie and software reviews; works
of literature; and complete encyclopedias, dictionaries and thesauruses.
The Electric Library service offers a uniquely easy-to-use interface. It
allows users to simply inquire about a subject in plain English, and
receive back a list of relevant documents. Searches can be conducted
broadly or fine-tuned, and results appear as complete, full-text
articles, and are ranked by relevancy, date of publication and file size.
Infonautics will offer AOL members a choice of two Electric Library
services to meet their specific research needs: the Personal Edition, the
original Electric Library service launched two years ago which offers
unlimited access at $9.95 per month or $59.95 per year, and the Business
Edition, a new service to be introduced on AOL in the coming weeks, which
will offer unlimited access for $14.95 per month or $99.95 per year."...
"'Research that used to require a trip to the library, or cost hundreds
of dollars through a professional research service, will soon be
available to AOL members day or night, seven days a week - and at a very
reasonable price. This service will be a great benefit to our members
because of its terrific ease of use and competitively low cost.'"...
"In addition, AOL's well organized service will give us great
distribution, and most importantly, will make it easy for people to find
and use our services."...
The above is excerpted -- you can read the full release at,
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/980323/aol_networ_1.html
--oOo--
Other than the fact that they charge for it, an AOL - based research
service offers a vast number of "access" advantages which libraries do
not: AOL is "everywhere", it is more easily customized to suit users'
needs than library service is, it is "open" 24 hours per day / 7 days per
week", etc.. And yes increasingly it reaches "print" as well as online
resources: it still is hard to get to the crowded "Internet terminals" in
libraries, and printed text is going online rapidly witness the very many
news services and publishers who already offer fulltext online.
$6 per month is too much for casual users, but not much for regular
users, and libraries in the past have been known to charge more, for
lending as well as reference service -- some libraries in France still
do. Infonautics will pay AOL $4 million -- over 1 year? 2? -- to carry
their reference service. Beginning financial numbers this large could
support a lot of library use.
I expect as well that if libraries could make the case for free access,
someone somewhere could be found who would subsidize that $6 per month per
user, on a site license basis or some other way: in my local case, "the
San Francisco Public Library" could do it, or "the City of San Francisco",
or "the State of California", or even the US Dept. of Education.
But why use "the library" anymore: has that become an "unnecessary
middleman", to be "cut out"? Like I said, other than the money involved
-- which seems to be getting more and more minimal, rapidly -- any other
reasons for using "libraries" any more for reference service, if we are
going to have AOL and Infonautics et al.? What is the "value - added"
which libraries & librarians can provide? Calm responses only please.
ps. Any experience - based opinions of Infonautics products "Homework
Helper" (Prodigy) and "Electric Library" (W3 -- http://www.elibrary.com)
would be very interesting to hear. Anybody else doing what they are doing
online -- doing it well, that is, and doing it commercially?
Jack Kessler
kessler@well.sf.ca.us
