Libraries

Most people know what a library is. They have probably been to one, and may go on a regular basis. However, most people would also have a difficult time defining what a library is in any complete sense. As a matter of fact, given the rapid and significant changes in recent years, most librarians might need to pause and think if asked for a definition. Many graduate schools that formerly offered an MLS (Masters of Library Science) are now confering MIS degrees (Masters of Information Science). This is because information science is, to a great degree, what librarians have always done. When considering many of the tasks of "traditional" librarian in a print world, it is clear that there is direct applicability to the needs of a world increasingly dominated by electronic media.

One of the fundamental ways in which libraries are changing is in the principle of acquisitions. Traditionally, and to a great degree still, library quality has often been judged based on the size of the collection. There is a formula which states that 20% of a collection will generate 80% of the use. The trick has always been to try to determine which books will fall within that magical 20%. With the advent of the Internet, there is a shift away from "acquiring" towards "accessing". In the past the prime reason for acquiring was to provide access to information, today that is often more direct. However, the same processes that are involved in acquiring, such as critical evaluation of sources, is still necessary. One need not search far on the Internet to experience information overload. Critical evaluation of web sites as information sources and providing access to those sites are examples of important tasks that naturally fall to librarians as an extension of the evaluation/acquisition process.

An important base of experience that makes the librarian especially suited is that librarianship is fundamentally about user needs. While catalogers often do not deal directly with the library patron, the very purpose of cataloging and classification is to provide consistent and appropriate access points to sources of information, using tools such as LCSH (Library of Congress Subject Headings). Libraries were one of the first groups to use computers and databases for information retrieval and have been involved in digital cataloging for over thirty years using the MARC format. Resource sharing, both in terms of cataloging records as well as actual library materials is made possible by huge bibliographic databases that have developed since the 1960's and 70's, OCLC and RLIN being the most significant. A number of librarians are currently involved in developing ways to catalog internet sources while others continue to conduct research to refine our understanding of how users access information.

Understanding user needs is very important to reference work, another primary function within a library. With the advent of overwhelming amounts of electronic information, a reference librarian is now often referred to as an "information mediary", and never was the need for this specialty more pronounced. While there is more information available for direct patron access, the sheer volume of sources decreases that patrons chance of finding useful and complete information. As David Wallace* states:

The anarchic nature of the internet and the organization of the resources on it makes it great fun to browse. However, it can also prove frustrating when a particular source is desired - since you don't know if what you want exists, and you don't necessarily know how to find it if it does. The internet provides the online community with a double-edged sword. On one hand the plethora of free resources enables the user to access so much information that its wealth has been likened to drinking from a firehose. On the other hand, the haphazard growth of server sites and the non-standard language used to describe the resources resident on them makes this network akin to an enormous library that has forgotten to hire any librarians - the shelves are full, but a professionally developed card catalog doesn't exist. This has resulted in the erratic description of resources and wide duplication of resources across various servers.

Knowledge of database design and construction as well as search engines and effective search strategies are imperative to ensuring thorough information retrieval. The practice of indexing is part of the broader catagory of "knowledge representation", and is very important to modern information systems in that they make the database apparent to the user and conversly they allow the user to define their needs within the boundaries of the system.

Wallace, David. Basic Navigation & Resources. Archives and Museum Informatics. (8:1, Spring 1994).

last updated on 5/10/01