Internet column

Citation

O'Beirne, R. (2005), "Internet column", Reference Reviews, Vol. 19 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/rr.2005.09919dag.001

Internet column

Three recent developments within the internet world strike me as being of significance for reference librarians.

The first is this concept of viral marketing. This, to give a simple definition, is a way of spreading advertisements around the internet through a method that is similar to a virus infection. The adverts are generally not malicious and no harm is done to the recipients’ equipment. Often the viral contamination is socially transmitted rather than using automated programming techniques, which means that humans knowingly assist in the distribution. As a recent example, a high-school teacher from the US created a 60 second animated advertisement for the iPod. He did this of his own volition, presumably as a hobby, taking five months to complete the task. He then posted it to a web site where a number of people noticed the advertisement and, to show their appreciation, sent details to their friends. Word got around the internet and soon there were postings on message boards and in blogs. In a little over five days there had been about 40,000 viewings of the one-minute video animation. Marketing experts have praised the content and professional approach of George Masters the advertisement’s creator.

This whole event raises some interesting issues for the reference librarian and the use of the internet as a landscape in which ephemera can be created. Of course, the one-minute advertisement could easily be a three-minute artistic happening or indeed whatever the author wants. Not only can material be created easily it can be published instantly, and it would appear the method of distribution is self-replication. How then could (or should) such material be managed, organised, verified, updated, arranged, stored, referenced, retrieved and ultimately used? Some years ago the idea of automatically assigning metadata to such materials seemed a possibility. More recently there have been significant quality issues to be resolved with this type of approach. For now, the closest we can get is to identify the location where an item can be found – usually a URL. Search engines can then assist in locating items within a wider area but still our understanding of items, objects and materials is not enhanced by a description. We retrieve the item (the advertisement) and assess its value in an isolated way.

The second, and not unrelated development, is the wikiwiki web. Although this has been around for the past ten years it is now gaining more attention. The concept is really based on a collaboration model for web site development. Essentially it is a blog web site and a message board rolled into one editable space. One of the most successful examples perhaps familiar to many is the Wikipedea (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page), recently subject to a detailed overview in Vol. 19 No. 2 of this journal (Viewpoint: “Power to the people: the case for Wikipedia”).

This exciting project is well worth exploring as it provides a model that allows contributions on a wide range of subjects that are brought together into one searchable encyclopaedia. The beauty of this approach is the enthusiasm with which contributions are made, typically by people who are experts in their subject or at least have some thorough knowledge. While the Wikipedia is ambitious in that it attempts to cover all knowledge, the model could be used to good effect in say a local history context where contributions within a limited scope might be sought. The underlying principle of course is democracy, the notion that all may have their say. This can present some difficulties but generally it works well. Where a posting is in some way controversial this is often flagged up with a message referring the reader to an open discussion on the subject. The entry for Rastafarianism is an excellent example of how the collaboration on an article needs to be negotiated.

The third area of development to highlight is music on the web. With the huge success of Apple’s iTunes the whole entertainment industry has to reassess the distribution of music. After fighting off the threat of Napster the fundamental question that faces the industry is how should music be managed, controlled and used so that it has widespread distribution and its creators and performers rewarded. In library terms an additional question might be how music will fit with future notions of loan material. Currently many public libraries struggle to process and manage music CDs with very little financial return. An article in a recent issue of Scandinavian Public Library Review (see www.splq.info/issues/vol37_4/04.htm) notes a successful project in Norway where the public library negotiates with an association of music publishers to provide music to library members. The music is streamed via the web using the library management system for authentication; the loan period lasts as long as the music track. Is this the way forward? Certainly the distribution of text-based information is quite far advanced on this path and it is probably the preferred model for distributing e-books. The next stage will be the streaming of video content that of course takes us back to Mr Masters and his home made animated advertisement.

Ronan O’BeirneInternet Editor Reference Reviews and Principal Libraries Officer Information, Bradford Libraries, Archives and Information, Bradford, UK