Libraries, Patrons, the WebA Transformation of Knowledge Management, Discovery and Delivery

Presentation at the 23rd International Association of Technological University Libraries (IATUL) Conference, Kansas City, Missouri, USA, June 6, 2002.

Gary R. Houk, Vice President, Cataloging and Metadata Services

Are we there yet?

“Are we going to move increasingly in the direction of automating nineteenth-century librarianship, or are we going to use automation to produce a new librarianship totally different from both the past and present?”

Frederick G. Kilgour, 1977

Speculation Ahead!

What do I know of [the library’s] destiny? I could tell you more about radishes.

Gary Houk (by way of Samuel Beckett)

Challenges, Problems & Facts

“We don't know what the Web is for but we've adopted it faster than any technology since fire.”

David Weinberger in The Cluetrain Manifesto

The Legacy of 20th Librarianship

21st Century Librarianship?

"Cyberspace. A consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators, in every nation, by children being taught mathematical concepts...A graphical representation of data abstracted from the banks of every computer in the human system. Unthinkable complexity. Lines of light ranged in the non-space of the mind, clusters and constellations of data. Like city lights, receding..." --William Gibson, Neuromancer

Transformation or Reformation?

• What is the relationship of the library catalogue to the web? – Does every library need one?

– Is ‘complete’ bibliographic description necessary?

– Does ‘third-party’ cataloging still make sense?

– Is the OPAC for inventory control or discovery?

Technology is an enabler

The web provides a mechanism to support librarians’ expanded role in the digital age

• Anytime/anywhere access to knowledge resources

• Support new methods of teaching and learning

• Authoritative electronic content

• Users are in control, but they want professional assistance around the clock

• Increasingly networked environment

Page 9 Harris Interactive Inc.

71%

2%

27%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Most of the time Some of the time Not very often

Base: All Qualified Respondents (n= 1,050 )

Q515 Thinking about your study assignments, how often do you find the information you look for on the Web?

Nearly three-fourths of respondents (71%) report that they are able to find the information that they look for on the Web ‘Most of the Time’.

P a g e 1 3 H a r r is In t e r a c t iv e In c .

4 1 %

5 5 %

5 8 %

6 1 %

6 5 %

6 5 %

6 7 %

7 0 %

7 2 %

8 3 %

8 4 %

8 8 %

1 %

1 1 %

2 %

0 %

1 3 %

1 %

3 %

3 %

0 %

3 %

1 %

0 %

0 % 2 0 % 4 0 % 6 0 % 8 0 % 1 0 0 %

S p e c if ic c o u r s e - r e la te d w e b s ite s (n = 9 5 0 )

C a m p u s lib r a r y w e b s ite (n = 8 6 6 )

C o lle g e /U n iv e r s ity w e b s ite s e x c lu d in g c a m p u s lib r a r y (n = 8 2 1 )

O n lin e s tu d y g r o u p s /In s ta n t m e s s a g in g / C h a t r o o m s (n = 2 7 3 )

P u b lic l ib r a r y w e b s ite s (n = 6 1 5 )

E s s a y o r p a p e r w e b s ite s (n = 2 8 0 )

Ar t ic le s a n d In fo s ite s (n = 7 4 8 )

As k a n E x p e r t /T u to r in g (n -2 4 9 )

O n lin e S tu d y Aid s (n = 4 1 4 )

O n lin e E n c yc lo p (n = 7 2 6 )

S e a r c h e n g in e s (n = 1 ,0 1 3 )

W e b P o r ta ls (n = 8 6 7 )

M y s e lf L ib ra r ia nB a s e : R e s p o n d e n ts u s in g W e b R e s o u r c e s

Q 4 3 0 P le a s e in d ic a t e w h o in f lu e n c e s y o u r d e c is io n s t o u s e e a c h o f t h e f o l lo w in g W e b r e s o u r c e s f o r y o u r a s s ig n m e n t s .

O v e r a l l , s t u d e n t s t e n d t o c h o o s e f o r t h e m s e lv e s w h ic h W e b r e s o u r c e t o u s e .

It is still about FINDING content

• 248%

Page 24 Harris Interactive Inc.

Q545 Why don’t you use the campus library’s website? Please check all that apply.

The top reasons given by respondents not using the campus library website have more to do with the information and content within the site and less with the organization of the site itself.

27%

3%

3%

6%

11%

12%

12%

20%

29%

43%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

None of these reasons

I can't find the website

I can't get back to where I want to be once in the site

I can't tell where I am within the site

The website is too cluttered

The website is too disorganized

Too many clicks are needed inorder to find anything

I didn't know the library had a site

The website doesn't have what I need

Other websites have better information

% Yes

Base: Respondents who don’t use the Library Website (n=292)

The Future of Library Services

• Reference & Resource Sharing (D2D)

– Enable users to move easily between the library and the web.• Abebooks www.abebooks.com

• Technical Services

– Collection Management

– Cataloging

• Knowledge Management

• 1. Readers want to be able to find things2. Readers want your advice3. Readers want up-to-date, quality content4. Readers want relevant and straightforward content5. Readers want to do things6. Readers want to interact7. Readers want privacy

– From Content Critical by Gerry McGovern

“Libraries now find themselves forced to a dynamic state of instability, which should not be confused with insecurity. Since the age of Pericles, the most unstable periods in human history have been the most productive periods. Certainly, the period of instability into which libraries are now entering …..will be one of the intellectually productive periods in librarianship.”

Frederick G. Kilgour, 1966

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