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e\L-lovely-eng\comm12-1.pmd IInd 16-9-11 IIIrd 27-12-11 IVth 4-1-12

Unit 12: Online Information Services

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. Librarians have, Notes
for their part, acknowledged the necessity of familiarising themselves with SEO in order to promote
quality content in search results.

Replacing Traditional Library Services
The task of the library service has always been to provide users with information, traditionally in
the form of books, journals, magazines, and newspapers. 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.
This situation could be compounded for libraries as technologies improve and search engines become
more effective at retrieving relevant information. 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, while internet search engines are available. 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.

Reference Services
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. This often results in decreased use of library reference desks as
users gravitate towards new ways of meeting basic information needs.

Undermining Traditional Roles
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.
Libraries face a number of challenges in adapting to new ways of information seeking that often
stress convenience over quality. 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’.

Future Difficulties for Library Services
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,
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. This has further implications
for librarians if their expertise is deemed unnecessary when so much information is easily available
online via search engines.

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