Researchers' web use could make libraries redundant
17 January 2008
Study says university collections are not meeting the needs of the Google generation, writes John Gill
Libraries could be "swept aside by history" if they continue to fall behind the internet in addressing the changing demands of researchers and students, a new report has cautioned.
In an age when the internet is king, say the study's authors, university libraries are not keeping pace with change. They recommend that libraries foster closer links with internet search engines.
"Librarians need to make things simpler or consumers will simply vote with their feet. At worst ... findings suggest that massive failure is taking place at the library terminal and, despite the high investment, library systems are not delivering," they write. The report is based on a study by University College London's Centre for Information Behaviour and the Evaluation of Research. It was commissioned by the British Library and Joint Information Systems Committee.
The study examines the concept of the so-called Google generation - those born after 1993 with no recollection of life before the web - and it asks how future researchers will access resources in five to ten years' time.
The analysis identifies evidence of new research behaviour linked to the rise of online resources, including "power browsing", where researchers quickly "scan and flick" their way through a number of titles, looking "horizontally through titles, contents pages and abstracts going for quick wins".
"It almost seems that they go online to avoid reading in the traditional sense," the report says.
Another challenge is the ease of access offered by the internet and the need to match it.
The report says: "Any barrier to access - be that additional log-ins, payment or hard copy - are too high for most consumers, and information behind those barriers will increasingly be ignored."
Arguing the case for tighter integration of library content with commercial search engines, it says: "The business case for libraries is beginning to look weak to many outside the profession."
The report continues: "Libraries offer an enormous range of valuable publisher content to their users but often through systems that seem far less intuitive than the ubiquitous search engine. So librarians need to gain a much better understanding of how people actually behave in a virtual library setting.
"Without this, there is a real danger that the library professional will be swept aside by history, as relevant to 21st-century Britain as the hot metal typesetter.
"The popularity of desktop access to electronic journals is already immense, and use is growing very rapidly as publishers open up their content to be indexed by Google and other search engines."
The study notes a number of "startling" differences between age groups in their approach to finding articles.
It elaborates: "This suggests that the shift away from the physical to the virtual library will accelerate very rapidly, and that tools such as Google Scholar will be increasingly a real and present threat to the library as an institution."
While acknowledging the relevance of age, the report also debunks the myth that the Google generation has exclusive ownership of the web, or that older academics have little interest in what the internet can offer.
It says: "Focusing on the Google generation phenomenon is a form of escapism from the real issues that libraries are facing now. The virtual scholar, the rise of e-books, Google and declining status of the librarian: the future is now."
Ian Rowlands, a senior lecturer at UCL's School of Library, Archive and Information Studies and one of the report's authors, said libraries are now operating in a "very complex information landscape".
He added: "Whatever happens, libraries are sitting on a large print legacy, and that isn't going to go away."
john.gill@tsleducation.com
"The web is my first port of call"
-
Forty-two-year-old PhD student Pat Parslow is proof that new research methods, based on what the internet rather than the library has to offer, are not the preserve of the teenage "Google generation".
"The web is my first port of call. I almost never go to our library, which is horrifying really," said Mr Parslow, who is studying for a PhD at the School of Systems Engineering at the University of Reading.
"The traditional approach to research, of sitting down to read through a set of journal papers, never suited me. Using the web, I can jump from one subject to another, keeping notes as I go, and I find it much easier," he said.
Mr Parslow returned to university as a mature student after several aborted attempts at a degree as a younger man. He said the day-to-day business of research had changed drastically.
"I came back to university aged 36 to do my first degree," he said.
"I'd started degrees before but never got very far with them, and I think a major reason was that the internet wasn't there. It really suits the way I learn.
"When I first went to university when I left school, I found that by the time information was published in journals, it was pretty much out of date," Mr Parslow said.
"Libraries couldn't carry enough journals and conference papers. I would find that the things I wanted weren't there - but now most are available online.
"Most people I know now tend to use the web as their first port of call - probably Google first and then specialist sites, which are good for pre-filtered papers.
"Search engines such as Google and Google Scholar have been a godsend, and with the explosion of social networking tools, people are starting to share information more.
"People are working on the recommendations of others to find their information, and using other people's recommendations as a launch point for their own research on the net."
Readers' comments
Step inside a typical primary school classroom and you will observe that an average 11 year old student cannot grasp the nature of the Internet; that is, what is good and bad information? And, worryingly, if this same student does happen to stumble upon worthwhile material, it will probably be printed out and left unread. The original, and important, report highlights a critical dilemma whereby the 'google generation' interact with information differently to those who grew up with print only - mainly books. The main difference between these two groups is the notion of a 'quick fix'; that the answer must be immediate - I want it now! This attitude will impress upon the student as an adult the need to find an immediate answer, and whether it is right or not plays a distant second fiddle to just 'getting it done'. With this in mind, closing the gap between technogical development and faltering information literacy apparent in the 'google generation', teachers must teach (and, commendably, many already do) basic literacy skills such as reading, understanding, interpreting and, crucially, analysing text. If this is done well, perhaps developing a critical eye, rather than a passive, lazy one, will contribute to improved information literacy at the computer screen.
Tom Dawkes makes a good, valid, point about the online content available through affiliation with an institution. However, in my case, I have tended to find that our library has access to all the issues prior to the one I want, or the ones after it - and have seldom found articles I have needed through it. My success rate at finding information via web searches, or through personal recommendations of sites is so much greater than through library resources the latter is very much a last resort for me now. I am also very concerned that Ashwin Khurana's points regarding 11 year old students sounds very reminiscent of a lot of university students I have known over the last 5+ years. Whilst there are certainly some who can distinguish between good and bad data sources, there are many who cannot, and many who also struggle to string words together into an acceptable sentence. The other major problem, I believe, with the internet as a primary source of information is the sheer level of temptation for students to plagiarise. I am appalled at the amount of plagiarism I see happening, not only because it is 'against the rules' but because it indicates the offenders have no intention of learning - they are only there to 'get a degree'. On the bright side, in relation to modern internet use and education, it does look as though students are able to use services such as social networking sites to engage in learning activities together. Connectivism, as George Siemens has dubbed it, appears to provide at least some foundation for making the most of a new paradigm of information exchange which is, despite any educationalists wishes, unlikely to disappear in the near future.
<p>I'm surprised that Pat Parslow, a Phd student is making a comment like this. I'm a trained librarian of over 20years of experience, as much as I agree with Pat with regards to the Internet, the Internet nor the Google will replace an entire library especially a specialist library. I can guarantee you that you will not be able to find everything even in the Google Scholar which happens to be my favourite. Time and again I've proved to my users the worth and value of a trained librarian. The internet will not be able to replace librarian. You must realize that Search Directories like the Yahoo was built by trained librarians who give you a structure, narrowing down from a broader subject to a narrow topic. In fact the whole architecture and infrastructure in the Internet search engines where developed from library classification. <p>The internet exist to compliment the libraries and never will able to replacel libraries completely. <p>Google gives the citation of academic articles but you would have to log on to your library digital database to access those academic journals and full-text articles. <p>The librarians of today are very IT savy and the library users need to be taught how to even explore the Internet, or search effectively. Knowing how to key in the search box is not effectively searching, and not many Internet users realize that.
As a service provider (a faculty librarian at a research-led university), I want to make my services as easy for people to use as possible. The ideal virtual library interface is the one that needs no introduction - it's there, and it's self evident how to use it. In other words, the virtual library working like Google. Indeed, we provide a number of tools like search widgets and browser plug-ins that students and researchers can insert into their own virtual working spaces, so that they can use the library's web services without using the library website. We're introducing cross-searching tools that allow for multiple academic databases to be searched simultaneously, reducing search times. <p>However, the nature of the information that's out there is complicated, and simplification of interfaces can only go so far. It's not just the search interface, it's the information behind that interface, and one of the points made in the report is that students and researchers lack a clear understanding or mental map of how information is organised on the web, or anywhere else for that matter. <p>As an educator, I want to encourage higher-order reading and greater understanding of the rich diversity of information out there, and I think the most worrying thing about the report is the suggestion is that not only is this not happening, but that this lack of higher-level reading and understanding might be getting worse. I'm not sure that true knolwedge or understanding can ever be garnered from power-browsing. Sure, that's enough for your average undergraduate who's just going through the motions of unviersity becuase that's what you have to do to get a good job, but what about those who may go on to research / academic careers? If they don't understand that there are different types of information, with different structures, how is that going to affect research into the future? <p>In fact, I think it's sad that most of the press coverage of the report has focused on the library side of things, because I really think that researchers and lecturers should be reading this report as well. University tutors have to decide what it is they want from their students - just for them to be able to look up information (which, as the report highlights, they're not particualarly good at anyway), or to be able to analyse, evaluate, and discuss. I echo Tom Dawkes' comment that it's a shame people are missing out the report's title - "Information behaviour of the researcher of the future". This report isn't just about libraries, it's about how research is going to be conducted into the future, and as such concerns all of in HE. <p>Martin Wolf, Arts Faculty Librarian, University of Liverpool
I believe that it's not the kids of the Google generation who can't grasp using a library instead of the intenet, it's simply that they aren't getting taught that the internet isn't always true. But I must admit, it's hard to simply sit in a library and read books until you find what you're looking for. After all, I'm on the negative debating team for the topic "The internet has made libraries redundant" and here I am researching on the internet rather than sitting at a desk at a local library. But I had a team meet on Tuesday and we were sort of going out on a tangent, because people were thinking, hey, we can't research on the internet now cause we're saying that the internet hasn't made libraries redundant. So basically, we gotta even it out. Use a hybrid combination of research methods. Now there's a way forward.
"So basically, we gotta even it out". How very academic. How very New Labour Britain.
I hardly see anything that does not benefit society in terms of modernizing of our sources of information. Google has been a very rich resource of learning, yet it still lacks the credibility often thought of typical library. Given a couple of more years, I'm possitive that similar programs will be effective and efficient as a physical library. As long as the learning is present, the idea of a virtual library to me, seems like a very uselful tool. Today we face a very sure transforming phase in society, the ultre-modernization of human life. Wether or not we consent changes in our lives, they are bound to happen.
No one can buck the trend of technology. We should harness it and adapt it.