[12096] in Public-Access_Computer_Systems_Forum
Re: No more library reference service?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Public-Access Computer Systems For)
Tue Mar 24 20:03:07 1998
Date: Tue, 24 Mar 1998 16:15:14 -0600
From: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <LIBPACS@UHUPVM1.UH.EDU>
To: PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU
Reply-To: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU>
6 Messages, 210 Lines
*-----
From: "Anne M. Buck" <buck@cco.caltech.edu>
Before anyone freaks out totally:
1. Who knows, AOL may be on to something!
2. It all depends on what caliber reference service
a library has been providing.
3. Is anybody willing to shell out $9.95 to give it
a look-see for a month?
Anne M. Buck, University Librarian
California Institute of Technology
Caltech Library System, 1-32
Pasadena, CA 91125
phone: (626) 395-6416
FAX: (626) 792-7540
email: buck@cco.caltech.edu
*-----
From: "Erwin, Patricia J." <erwin.patricia@mayo.edu>
-----snip---------------
> 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.
>
The "value-added" is the focussing the reference service
provides. It is difficult to formulate a question alone, if there is no
one to ask "outsider" questions. The old story from library school of
the patron who asks for the Bible to find the dimensions of Noah's ark
is only the tip of the iceberg.
Another is depth -- information on current social or political
themes, current science should be available, or the newest buzzwords in
business. Historical or alternative viewpoints may be harder to locate.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Patricia J. Erwin
erwin.patricia@mayo.edu
Mayo Medical Library PHONE: 507-284-4952
Rochester MN 55905 FAX: 507-284-2215
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
*-----
From: "Margaret A. Rioux" <mrioux@whoi.edu>
I had a good look at ALA Midwinter at the Electric Library
product that AOL is offering and it certainly won't replace
library reference service, at least not of the quality that
libraries charge for. It's a nice product, but the full text
sources are pretty general. Newspapers, trade magazines, that
sort of stuff. The search engine is basically keyword, filtering
out stop words. It searches the full text, which plays hell with
relevance.
In the past Electric Library has marketed to public libraries
with a proprietary client as its interface. In the session I
attended they indicated that they were interested in expanding to
other markets, notably academic libraries, with a Web interface.
Obviously they had even more markets in mind.
Maggie Rioux
--
*********************************************************************
* Maggie Rioux | Email:
mrioux@whoi.edu *
* Information Systems Librarian | Voice:
508/289-2538 *
* MBL/WHOI Library | Fax:
508/457-2156 *
* Woods Hole Oceanographic Inst. | Foot: Clark Lab, Room
135 *
* Woods Hole, MA 02543 | Quissett Campus,
WHOI *
*********************************************************************
*-----
From: Millard Johnson <zendog@incolsa.palni.edu>
On Monday, March 23, 1998 7:38 PM, Jack Kessler [SMTP:kessler@well.com] wrote:
> ----------------------------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"
>
Jack asks two things: Is anyone else doing the same thing well, and why will we
still need library reference services.
Perhaps the Indiana experience may add some insight. We have recently made a
similar (probably better) service available to every citizen of the state with
access to the Internet. We offer these databases:
Academic Search Elite
Business Source Elite
Collier's Encyclopedia
Encyclopedia of Animals
ERIC
Funk & Wagnall's New Encyclopedia
Health Source Plus
Kids' Middle Grades Search +
Kid's Primary Grades Search
MasterFILE FT 1500
MasterFILE FT Premier
MEDLINE
Newspaper Source
I believe this includes more journals and more full text. The service called
INSPIRE is available at no charge. It was created as a cooperative effort of
more than 735 libraries working through INCOLSA -- Indiana's library network.
Our membership include school, public, academic and special libraries. The
system has been used since mid January and is currently being used more than
80,000 times a week. Access is via EBSCO host and OCLC's SiteSearch / WebZ
Z39.50 interface.
What value libraries can add is the subject we are pursuing. We encourage home
and office users to enter INSPIRE through the home page of their library. We
tell them that, in the future, they will have access to a much broader range of
library services -- rather than simple database searching. Future virtual
networked library services we are considering include: User initiated ILL of
full text of articles not currently in full text, ILL from an Indiana union
catalog of books, virtual networked reference service through local libraries
to a center of excellence reference center. Of course, we can not see the
revolutionary services until we have a bit more experience working with the
Virtual Networked Library.
We have argued that the economy of the 21st century will grow along the
information highway and that Indiana libraries are essential infrastructure to
make Indiana more competitive by providing information as raw material and
improving quality of life to attract and retain mobile knowledge workers.
***************************
Millard Johnson
zendog@incolsa.palni.edu
http://incolsa.palni.edu
*------
From: CoppercornCottage <kierak@teleport.com>
Why Infonautic's Electric Library will not replace library-style
reference service:
The difference is people. A reference librarian. Many people do not
want (or are not able) to do their research entirely on their own.
Those who enjoy research have always avoided us. <g>
Even some of those occasionally have a humble moment when a consultation
is in order.
The change I see is that we are getting more of the very difficult
reference questions.
Regards,
Kiera Koester
Reference Librarian
http://www.angelfire.com/or/coppercorncottage
kierak@teleport.com Forest Grove*Cascadia Bioregion*Oregon*USA
*-----
From: "David P. Bunnell" <bunnell_dp@Mercer.EDU>
The main reason is money. There are a lot of people in the United
States who do not have the funds to get a computer, America Online, or
even a phone. The philosophy of public libraries has been to get
information to the ordinary citizen. There may be a lot of computers in
homes and schools, but we are creating an information underclass that
will wreck the delicate structures of information flow we have created.
These folks cannot afford the technology or the service nor can they
afford to be left behind.
It may be true that researchers can use the Internet or other on-line
services to aid their research. It may be true that those researchers
can eventually do without people like me in academic libraries.
However, if we pull away money and resources from public and school
libraries we will damage a basic underpinning of American society, the
ability of even the lowest class citizen to improve his or her condition
and participate in the body politic. My job at a high-priced university
is probably expendable, free information through publicly owned
resources is not.
This may not answer the question of why it will not change library
reference service and libraries, but it is the reason why I sincerly
hope it doesn't.
David P. Bunnell Mercer University
Head of Public Services 1300 Edgewood Avenue
Main Library Macon, Georgia 31207
bunnell_dp@mercer.edu tel: (912) 752-2031
fax: (912) 752-2252
