Peter, I think you are confusing the underlying method and design with
the user interface. The fact that Google has a single search box says
nothing about what goes on when someone input a query. You can put a
single search box on anything. What happens after that is what matters.
There are a lot of library systems now that present a single search box,
and that hasn't brought users back to libraries.
I have to recommend here David Lankes work on "Library as conversation."
[1] If we see the library as a warehouse and a search, then we are
competing in a losing battle with Google. If we see the library as an
interaction, a conversation, then we add value. All Google does is
search. Search is not the only action that information users take. [2]
I think we need to write this on the board 100 times:
The library is not a search engine.
The library is not a search engine.
...
kc
[1] http://www.newlibrarianship.org/wordpress/?page_id=2
[2] http://kcoyle.net/img/Research.png
On 7/29/13 9:35 AM, Peter Schlumpf wrote:
> And that's precisely my point. People will do what is easiest and most
> effective for them and their information seeking needs. Don't criticise
> that. The original post here struck me as gobbledygook for just about
> anybody who is not a cataloger. If libraries do not serve the patron's
> needs and skid down to irrelevance (as they are 3/4's of the way there
> already) with an arrogant attitude to boot, then they regrettably deserve
> it.
>
> We need systems and search tools that are designed to be simple, easy to
> use and effective for everybody. Not just catalogers. I am no fan of
> Google, but I have to say I use it more than any library search tool.
>
> Libraries have forgotten basic principles and are beholden by the tools and
> technology. Whatever happened to Ranganthan's principles of how libraries
> should work? Every reader his book (resource). Every book (resource) its
> reader. Save the time of the reader. a library is a living organism.
>
> Peter Schlumpf
>
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, Jul 29, 2013 at 11:12 AM, john g marr <jmarr_at_unm.edu> wrote:
>
>> On Mon, 29 Jul 2013, Peter Schlumpf wrote:
>>
>> And yet, most of the world seems to go to Google for their information
>>> anymore.
>>>
>>> Have to wonder why.
>>>
>> It's because people are easily sold on doing what's simplest, most
>> entertaining, and most profitable for themselves without regard for more
>> subtle possible consequences, especially for the society at large.
>>
>> And part of THAT problem is that the human (consumer, voter) brain does
>> not physically mature until the mid-twenties (if at all, the ultimate
>> skeptic said).
>>
>> "Brains of Young Adults Not Fully Mature"
>> http://www.livescience.com/**7005-brains-young-adults-**fully-mature.html<http://www.livescience.com/7005-brains-young-adults-fully-mature.html>
>>
>> Hmmm... this might be another good use of library patron surveys...
>>
>> Cheers!
>>
>> jgm
>>
>> John G. Marr
>> Cataloger
>> CDS, UL
>> Univ. of New Mexico
>> Albuquerque, NM 87131
>> jmarr_at_unm.edu
>> californiastop_at_hushmail.com
>>
>> ** Forget the "self"; forget the "other"; just
>> consider what goes on in between. **
>>
>> Opinions belong exclusively to the individuals expressing them, but
>> sharing is permitted.
>>
--
Karen Coyle
kcoyle@kcoyle.net http://kcoyle.net
ph: 1-510-540-7596
m: 1-510-435-8234
skype: kcoylenet
Received on Mon Jul 29 2013 - 13:31:26 EDT
