The Internet and the Changing Information Environment

Citation

O’Beirne, R. (2002), "The Internet and the Changing Information Environment", Library Review, Vol. 51 No. 1, pp. 45-59. https://doi.org/10.1108/lr.2002.51.1.45.1

This publication sets itself a difficult task which by and large it achieves. In introducing the text the authors note that there are plenty of treatments that deal with the technological aspect of the Internet. There are few studies that look at Internet information‐seeking habits within the workplace and at home. The challenge the authors set themselves is to dig a little deeper than the surface hype:

The Internet and all it stands for needs not just to be patted on the back but challenged and confronted by the data as to who uses it, and what does it displace, if anything? This book sets out to answer these questions in a hard‐hitting, structured and pragmatic style.

The methodology used is both interesting and innovative. In tackling the task the authors draw upon four research studies to gain some initial data. The first of these studies looked at children’s use of the Internet. The other three were media‐related and explored the various uses made within the newspaper industry of a range of technologies by journalists and consumers.

The main body of this book is divided into three parts. Part one serves both as a general primer on the terminology of the Internet and as an overview of Internet activity by looking at Internet statistics; size, growth and population characteristics. The information held in part one is of use in attempting to understand the scope and depth of the Internet. The authors note some of the main pitfalls encountered in measuring things such as the number of users, the number of sites and the volume of use. Although having pointed out these difficulties they do not shy away from mentioning some of the more accepted figures. In places more use could have been made of graphics to represent this data with greater clarity.

Part two of this book outlines some of the features of the Internet. These are held to be: seamlessness; currency; global reach; egalitarianism; comprehensiveness; and interactivity. Each feature is re‐assessed in the light of the evidence provided from the data of the four studies. The conclusions are then drawn with some incisive points being made. This cross‐tabulation‐type approach works well and is quite illuminating. Some readers may find that this methodology has too narrow a focus and that it lacks the broad brush‐stroke appeal of a cross‐sectoral approach. However, despite these limitations, the conclusions seem to be well founded and thorough.

Part three takes an in‐depth look at users and tries to analyse their characteristics and attributes. Users are catagorised into different use types, which is an interesting exercise, giving rise to categories such as “Net worshippers”, “occasional dippers”, “enthusiastic novices” and “non‐believers”. There is a good treatment of how the Internet compounds the issues of information overload and quality and authenticity of data.

In conclusion, the authors note that the Internet is set to become even more ubiquitous.