Internet Search Engines are a quick and simple way to access information on the World Wide Web. Traditional information providers, such as libraries, have been impacted by the ease with which the public can access information using online search. Search engines provide opportunities for libraries to supplement traditional services, and may also facilitate the development of new services. However, search engines may threaten certain traditional library services, such as reference enquiries,[1] as the use of the internet as an information source becomes increasingly commonplace.
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The use of search engines has allowed libraries to augment their traditional core services. Many libraries have developed an effective ‘virtual’ presence through their websites. This ‘virtual’ library is available all over the world to anyone who has access to the internet, and presence in a list of search engine results can provide useful publicity for libraries. As part of wider efforts by libraries to embrace new technology, Library Review editor David McMenemy has stated that a library's “Internet identity is vital”.[2] However, many libraries face challenges in developing effective websites. In the UK administrative procedure means that library websites are contained within the domain of the local authorities that manage them. It has been argued that this compromises the identity of the library and makes it less accessible to its users.[2] Cost is also a considerable factor in the development of effective online libraries.
There is also potential for libraries to make their services more accessible through search engines by making the contents of their catalogues freely searchable. This would assist libraries because results about library holdings would be positioned alongside content from relevant commercial sites, presenting users with the option of borrowing books on their topic of interest instead of purchasing. Library scholars have also acknowledged that people often prefer to access library catalogues using a familiar search engine interface.[3] Some specialised search engines such as Google Scholar offer libraries a way to facilitate searching for academic resources such as journal articles and research papers. This presents the user with a wider array of resources and establishes a pseudo-network between libraries in dispersed locations. However, the process of improving the accessibility of libraries through search engines has been hampered by proprietary issues over ownership of database records. The Guardian reported on this in 2009, suggesting the necessity for new business models to develop in the library world to harness the full potential of search engines.[4]
Search engines facilitate book lending by providing access to freely available digital book excerpts. This facilitates information seeking by allowing people to preview books and get clear understanding of the subject matter. If they identify an item of interest in this way, their local library may be able to provide a copy, either in a physical or digital format. Libraries would benefit more from this development if the proprietary issues discussed above are resolved.[4] This would allow existing resources such as abstracts, reviews and recommendations that are available on sites such as LibraryThing and Amazon to be linked into items in local library catalogues.[4]
Libraries have opportunities to develop new services and improve library provision using internet search engines. The internet has opened up and transformed the information environment, providing rapid access to high-level knowledge.[5] This has changed the way that people search for information and libraries are adapting by providing computers and internet access.[6] This development has been particularly positive for libraries in attracting younger users. There are a wide range of reasons why young people often move away from libraries including peer-pressure and social concerns, and the fact that other leisure interests compete with reading for young people's time and attention.[7][8][9][10] However, by providing internet access, libraries are able to offer youth an opportunity to further research their interests such as music, television and sport.[10]
Libraries also have an opportunity to emulate the tools and methods used by internet search engines to attract users. By providing user-friendly interfaces with high speed access to deliver relevant and reliable content, libraries are able to keep up with technological developments and remain relevant to their users. Libraries can take on the ‘look-and-feel’ [11] of internet search engines but still retain their traditional services. Library scientists have recognised these opportunities to improve their services and complement existing ways to retrieve information.[12]
Projects such as Google Books potentially offer significant new opportunities for libraries. The digitisation of vast numbers of books, particularly those that are out-of-print, has enabled libraries to provide resources to their users in new ways. As well as expanding a library's user base to a potentially global scale, this facilitates multiple access to books simultaneously. Digitised copies of books can also serve as replacements for lost or damaged books and accessibility for disabled users can be improved. Due to their holdings of valuable material, libraries are important partners for search engines such as Google in realising the potential of such projects and have received reciprocal benefits in cases where they have negotiated effectively.[13]
Librarians have often been strong advocates of information literacy. CILIP, the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in the UK, defines information literacy as "knowing when and why you need information, where to find it, and how to evaluate, use and communicate it in an ethical manner."[14] When utilising a search engine, this involves knowing how to utilise advanced search features as well as select appropriate terms for a search. After results are returned it involves having the ability to select, retrieve, and evaluate the information retrieved by search engines.
Due to the amount of information that is available for free on the internet, search engines carry great potential for making people information rich and decoupling information poverty from economic poverty. However, this is tempered by the amount of poor quality information that exists on the internet.[15][16] Many in the library profession feel that information literacy is vital if the full potential of the internet is to be realised.[17] Library advocacy bodies such as CILIP have emphasised the role that libraries and librarians can play in teaching the requisite skills in an environment where information comes in many forms and media.[18] In a 2004 Library Journal article, several library professionals identified the need to know how to get the most out of technologies such as search engines if people are to find reliable and pertinent information effectively.[19]
Information literacy and training in the use of technology fits in with wider extant efforts by public libraries to increase access to information. In accordance with this, CILIP and other library professionals promote the benefits of teaching information literacy in relation to information technology,[18][19] especially in places such as colleges and universities where students often rely on internet search engines to retrieve information to complete course work.[17] Libraries contribute to information literacy training in colleges and universities by providing online instructions for good search strategies on library homepages or in leaflets made available in the library. Librarians also run information literacy classes to give people practical experience of using internet search engines.[20]
Opportunities for libraries and librarians have also been identified in the emerging field of search engine optimisation.[21] Search engine optimisation involves improving the volume or quality of traffic to a website without using commercial means such as purchasing keywords from search engine providers. The skill set of librarians and their knowledge of information seeking behaviour has led commentators to acknowledge the role that librarians could play as SEO scientists.[21] Librarians have, for their part, acknowledged the necessity of familiarising themselves with SEO in order to promote quality content in search results.[22]
The task of the library service has always been to provide users with information, traditionally in the form of books, journals, magazines, and newspapers.[23] Internet search engines are also primarily information providers which for many people are just as effective as libraries. This has meant that traditional library services such as book lending and reference services are now under threat from a service many consider to be faster, easier and more convenient.[24] This situation could be compounded for libraries as technologies improve and search engines become more effective at retrieving relevant information.[1] If people can access information through internet search engines, they no longer feel the need to visit their local library to borrow books, which could result in a decrease in book lending.
Traditional library services also have restricted opening times which may not be convenient for potential users,[25] while internet search engines are available 24/7.[26] Furthermore, internet search engines provide information that is not restricted in the amount of time it can be kept for, while traditional library services involve time restrictions on how long a resource can be borrowed, as well as fees to be paid if resources are returned late.[27]
People traditionally visited their local library to use the available reference facility, and ask the reference librarian where to find suitable resources in relation to the information they were seeking. However, internet search engines excel at providing simple factual information; even their detractors acknowledged this in a 2004 symposium in Library Journal on the subject of the information role of Google and other search engines.[19] This often results in decreased use of library reference desks as users gravitate towards new ways of meeting basic information needs.
Traditional library services involve providing a wide collection of books for people to refer to and borrow. However, as the prominence and reliance on internet search engines has grown, library services have often shifted the emphasis from providing a wide range of print resources to providing computers and internet access to facilitate access to information available via search engines. As well as contributing to a decline in book borrowing, some have argued that this trend may also alienate existing users as the library becomes more computer-focused and no longer a quiet place of study.[28]
Libraries face a number of challenges in adapting to new ways of information seeking that often stress convenience over quality.[29] This means that libraries have to adapt if people are going to continue using their services. Information literacy agendas may also suffer as people begin to question its necessity and are willing to accept results that are 'good enough'.[30]
The ever-increasing reliance on internet search engines could negatively affect libraries and their services in the long-term. The potential decline in library usage, particularly reference services,[31] puts the necessity of these services in doubt. Consequently, libraries may face budget cuts and staff could face job losses. This will likely result in a poorer service which is particularly damaging for libraries at a time when their existence is already being questioned.[32] This has further implications for librarians if their expertise is deemed unnecessary when so much information is easily available online via search engines.
Library scholars have acknowledged that libraries need to address the ways that they market their services if they are to compete with internet search engines and mitigate the risk of losing users.[33] This includes promoting the information literacy skills training considered vital across the library profession.[18][19][30] However, marketing of services has to be adequately supported financially in order to be successful. This can be problematic for library services that are publicly funded and find it difficult to justify diverting tight funds to apparently peripheral areas such as branding and marketing.[34]
Google Books presents a number of difficulties for libraries, particularly in terms of copyright and proprietary issues. Writing in The Guardian in 2010, Robert McCrum criticised Google over its digitisation project and highlighted the potential threat such "piracy" poses to both the revenue of the publishing industry and the future quality of information resources.[35] The monopoly that Google is likely to have if Google Books is successful is a concern for libraries due to its commercial status and has also attracted significant press coverage. In an article for the The New York Review of Books in 2009, Robert Darnton lamented the missed opportunity that libraries had to undertake a similar project which could have fairly compensated copyright holders and would have been driven purely by a concern for the public good.[13]
Other commentators, notably Michael Gorman, have questioned the utility of the entire enterprise. In an 2004 article in the Los Angeles Times, Gorman argued that the mass digitisation of books, particularly scholarly books, is an exercise in futility because a book must be read in full for the real benefits to be felt, and people are unlikely to want to read that much on a screen or print out "500 unbound sheets".[36] Gorman's position provoked significant criticism,[37] particularly from bloggers describing him as a 'Luddite', but he remained unmoved by their arguments in a subsequent response.[38]