The Role and Impact of the Internet on Library and Information Services

Citation

Holland, M. (2002), "The Role and Impact of the Internet on Library and Information Services", The Electronic Library, Vol. 20 No. 2, pp. 156-157. https://doi.org/10.1108/el.2002.20.2.156.3

The Internet without question has impacted on library and information services and caused practitioners and researchers to challenge accepted paradigms about libraries and the services they offer. Perhaps because we are still immersed in a process of change a robust view of where those changes are leading remains elusive. The analysis and reflection of local communities of practitioners and researchers around the globe currently emerging through the published literature will no doubt contribute to a consensus view in time. In the UK, the home of this reviewer, we might point to Hanson and Day (1998) and Reid and Foster (2000) in this context. Liu, in this edited collection of papers, gives us a perspective from the USA with some references to a broader international context.

The text is divided into four sections: I The Development of the Internet; II The Impact of the Internet on Library Operations; III The Impact of the Internet on Library and Information Services; IV Internet Training in Libraries. Sections I. and IV have one chapter each and sections II and III, six and five respectively. In addition to the text there are full author and subject indexes and biographies of contributors. The introduction describes the book as being directed at students of library and information science schools, researchers addressing the areas of Internet and libraries and library practitioners. The text has many of the benefits and challenges of an edited work with an unevenness of style and quality. The most helpful chapters combine a broad overview with expert knowledge and readable style. Among these are the “Brief history of the Internet” (Chapter 1), “The impact of the Internet on the administration of libraries” (Chapter 2), Liu’s own chapter on “Business information” (Chapter 8), “The changing role of the academic media centre” (Chapter 11), and “Archives and the Internet” (Chapter 12).

The challenges of the text lie in the structure. The same issues, impact and role of the Internet, being addressed in a number of different operational and service contexts mean that there is some iteration of information in each chapter. Chapters tend to begin with an exclamation of the magnitude of the Internet’s impact and conclude with an assurance of this continuing. This is to some extent counter‐balanced by detailed examples illustrating the unique qualities of each context; however, this tends to privilege description over analysis. An opportunity to inform the library communities understanding of the Internet by borrowing insights from other disciplines and scholarly communities has perhaps been missed. The text might have been improved with an introduction to each section pointing the reader to the extensive research and theory on the impact of the Internet on organizational structure, operations and service delivery.

The Role and Impact of the Internet on Library and Information Services is ambitious in its coverage. Its applied focus across all aspects of library activity makes it relevant to the student and the specialist practitioner. In general it is insightful and informative and will deserve its place on the shelves of schools of library and information science.