The Library and Information Professional's Internet Companion

Citation

Lindsay, M. (2007), "The Library and Information Professional's Internet Companion", Library Review, Vol. 56 No. 4, pp. 330-331. https://doi.org/10.1108/00242530710743552

The title accurately tells us that this is a companion book. The handbook is a solid introduction to the internet for library and information professionals. You will find everything here from searching the World Wide Web to creating web pages, emails and how to use specific applications. With this companion at your side, you should be able to manoeuvre your way around to the topics you are interested in. The book is worth its price for the recommended links alone. The physical production is excellent, with clear text and in an appropriate size for use alongside the computer.

As the authors come from librarianship, the Social Science Information Gateway (SOSIG) and Computer and Information Sciences, the text is written in plain English and not overloaded with jargon. The really technical information only occupies 4 out of 183 pages.

The extra nuggets of information you will find in this book will greatly help us to train people in internet searching skills. For example, it came as a surprise to me to learn that Google has 8 billion pages indexed, but that any one search engine covers only 20‐30 per cent of the web at best. This is carefully explained.

The excellent chapter on creating web pages includes links to tutorial web sites. We can find basic information on web design and structure, evaluation, promotion, tracking and accessibility. Besides the relevant details of web addresses, there are reading lists and an index. There is a very clear explanation on email with a directory of library‐oriented lists which again would come in useful for training purposes.

There is a very practical discussion about conferencing; including newsgroups, news readers, web‐based forums and blogs. Discussion of the real‐time systems considers instant messaging, chat sites and video conferencing.

The authors rightly point out that the internet has proved in many ways to be unpredictable. It is admitted that the internet is at the heart of service provision in the 21st century library. The last chapter identifies the impact of the web on specific library sectors and services. The internet application in libraries addresses online reference services, information literacy, cataloguing internet resources, digitizing e‐journals and much more. The changing role of the library and information and professional is acknowledged by recognising the continuing importance of information literacy skills, greatly lacking in many members of the public who see the web as the panacea for their information seeking. It is up to librarians to keep ahead of the public in our use of information technology. By being constantly up‐to‐date we can continue to guide our enquirers to which will meet their information needs, as Ranganathan said “save the time of the reader”.

This text is an invaluable tool which I can confidently recommend to everyone providing information services in whatever sector this may be. There is more information here than you would get in a month of attending classes. Order it now.