The Digital Factor in Library and Information Services (International Yearbook of Library and Information Management, 2002/2003)

Robin Yeates (Research Fellow, Department of Information Science, City University, London, UK)

Program: electronic library and information systems

ISSN: 0033-0337

Article publication date: 1 June 2003

98

Keywords

Citation

Yeates, R. (2003), "The Digital Factor in Library and Information Services (International Yearbook of Library and Information Management, 2002/2003)", Program: electronic library and information systems, Vol. 37 No. 2, pp. 131-132. https://doi.org/10.1108/prog.2003.37.2.131.7

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2003, MCB UP Limited


This is the third volume of a refereed, annual series that is developing into a reliable, international overview of current issues, debates and trends. The subject for 2002‐2003 is “the digital factor”, intended to complement earlier themes of collection management and information services in an electronic environment. The nine pages of introduction summarise the collection of papers, starting from the fundamental principles of what digital libraries are and why they are important. A total of 16 chapters, each by a different expert from leading English‐speaking countries, are divided into six topical parts. Topics cover general theories about digital versus printed works; institutional models and economic issues; books and “readers”; reference services; collection management; and standards and technology, including access and security.

Deegan concludes that quality content is what matters and that libraries are good at handling it, whether digital or not. Peterson is much more cautious about digital revolutions and suspicious of commercial concerns driving markets for such things as e‐book services. She reminds us that libraries need to preserve and protect the availability of traditional formats and services for the benefit of users as well as explore digital media.

Brophy suggests that modelling of library services, whilst very useful, has really only been done robustly in digital or hybrid library contexts, and that more work is needed to secure the future of libraries in “a world of rapid change”. This is perhaps demonstrated by Tanner’s chapter on sustainability and economics, which stresses the opportunity costs of chasing new technology and the need to “focus on information goals”. One slight omission in the discussion here is the different perspectives of libraries of varying sizes and the relevant digital investment benefits for each type.

This yearbook certainly does not just include ideas from 2002‐2003. Some of the most useful contributions are literature and research reviews of areas that perhaps practitioners have no time to study routinely in depth. A good example is Ross’s review on reading in the digital age. This shows that knowledge and evidence about reading itself is available in publications from 1990 and before, but perhaps has become more required reading for the library profession during the year in question, although the subject was always relevant but often neglected. This is one sign of the way that interdisciplinary studies increasingly affect the information professions. The thoughtful chapter suggests ideas that may not be explicitly or adequately dealt with in current library policy‐making. For example, is the fact that available fiction is “recent” and “fashionable” equally important to readers and public libraries? Do libraries see readers as active constructors of the meaning of texts, or merely “passive objects controlled by active texts”? In the former case, evaluation can be undertaken by researching impact, or messages that are “in” texts and transferred from these to readers. In the latter, reader engagement is studied by researching benefits each reader derives from reading, according to their own context. The approach taken in this chapter seems to favour the latter view.

What is the future for books? Hyatt’s chapter discusses this, providing much useful evidence. It also includes in one succinct paragraph a wonderful, retrospective vision from the future (p. 127) for debate, that ends considering the past “when books did not afford readers a multitude of choices, interactions and opportunities to discuss, query and create”.

One certain fact about the future is that young people will grow up in it. Adkins considers the digital library and younger users, lamenting the way current digital libraries have mainly been created for adults, with little thought as to what is required for children and young people. Such projects as are identified here are either not very advanced or dormant/dead research projects. This is likely to change, but the importance of young people’s services in traditional libraries evidenced by research reviewed here covering a period of 20 years or more is not reflected in the digital library arena, where services promoting active engagement with library resources are most crucial.

Su’s chapter from the perspective of reference librarians as intermediaries also contains an excellent literature review and analysis of human interaction issues underpinning the design of any successful information service. Some of the discussion here leads us further towards a deep understanding of the role of library intermediaries and the possible future use of e‐books. Librarians would have to read very widely to gain this much experience elsewhere.

In academic libraries, librarians focus on learning support, and issues of quality control and access to services. Clark provides an interesting perspective on scholarly communication modes, pedagogy and consumerism, again looking at librarians’ roles as intermediaries and the ways they are beginning to embed library services in online learning environments and systems. Here, there seems to be a paradox: as they are increasingly driven by consumers, whose basic needs are for comfort, accessibility, novelty and fun, libraries struggle to provide the quality of information content that justifies their intermediary role. As information delivery channels proliferate, others may provide better coffee‐shops, more comfortable chairs and more rapidly changing environmental stimulation than traditional libraries. Yet, will they be able to provide quality content for the future on their own? The potential advantage for students that libraries have is their “depth and breadth”, a key point made here, but along with it comes the danger of overloading some students with information.

Smith provides a useful, brief overview of the need for evaluation of digital libraries and their collections, although perhaps more on how user groups can and should be identified and involved in evaluation activity would be useful. For example, what is the relative importance of real‐world existing formal groups versus virtual groups based on registration, or questionnaires, time or location?

Dorner’s chapter on metadata illustrates the rapidly growing importance and diversity of the topic (a possible future yearbook theme by itself?). It raises the question as to whether metadata is actually content and the boundary between content and description in a digital library service. It also highlights the way that global services needs drive development, so that users have access to the whole universe of information, but this might lead developers to underestimate the importance of local factors, since a user‐centric approach is based primarily on the local context. What we need is to ensure that developers are aware of both local and global issues through collaborative working, but, too often, differences in time horizons raise barriers to the effective involvement of local practitioners.

Brown‐Syed’s chapter on search engine technology seems slightly out of place here, because its author’s context is more computing and less library‐practitioner based than all the other chapters. However, this means that references to research and evidence do not overlap with previous discussions, and thus complement the rest of the book. There is not much acknowledgement of hybrid libraries here though, and the discussion is rather simplistic. The evaluation of the technology is not based on criteria presented elsewhere in the book.

The final chapter provides rather a weak conclusion to a fascinating, informative and topical collection. Katuu addresses system security in an electronic environment. The complexity of issues surrounding the principle of access is made clear, and privacy and free speech are briefly raised. As with all chapters, there is a useful list of references, mostly with Web links.

Overall, the well‐indexed book will provide excellent reading for senior managers, guidance for students and ideas for researchers. Its content is more thought‐provoking than directly actionable, which will limit its attractiveness for practitioners, but the wide‐ranging literature and research reviews alone could save many hours of unnecessary reading, justifying the rather high price, especially as a shared library resource. In future years it will provide valuable perspectives for library and information historians.

Related articles