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by Adrian Janes
The Library and Information Show (LIS), an
annual event for the UK
library and information community, took place over two days in April at the
National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham. Over 100 exhibitors were there to ply their
wares. There was also a lively stream of
free talks and presentations which, for those unable to attend ‘The Future of
Public Libraries' conference occurring elsewhere in the NEC, was a valuable way
to learn of topical concerns and potential developments.
Although overall there was a definite
leaning towards the public library world, some of the issues raised and
resources exhibited were highly relevant to other sectors too.
I have noted some of the more noteworthy
exhibitors, but it should be borne in mind that there were usually a number of
competitor companies also displaying, so it would be wise to examine more
precisely what they each have to offer. A full list of the exhibitors with websites
is at http://www.lishow.co.uk.
Vendor
Highlights
A striking aspect of some of the most
interesting stands was the theme of user empowerment, and the employment of
presentation techniques familiar from the Internet to achieve this. For example, Encore, the ‘discovery services
platform' produced by Innovative uses tagging
and spell check (the ‘Did you mean?' question generated by Google and other
search engines). In a manner similar to the search engine Clusty, it also
groups catalogue searches into facets, e.g.: Search found in Subject, Title or Author
Format Collection (useful for multi-site libraries), Languages or Publication Date. This faceting provides a
straightforward route into more refined versions of the original enquiry.
The Enterprise Portal Solution, from Sirsi
Dynix has user reviews of resources and will also be adding tagging. Its aim is to
present a single interface to an institution or organisation's information
resources, whether printed or electronic.
Enterprise
also has an interesting feature whereby resources can be gathered into
subject-based ‘Rooms'. Thus with both Encore and Enterprise, there is the trend
to try and expose as much as possible of a library's information resources in
one place, and incorporating some Web 2.0 methods in doing so. Valuable though this approach is, I wonder
how much some users might find this myriad of sources and links
overwhelming.
The theme of enhanced freedom for library
users was also seen in the introduction of Wi-Fi hotspots into a small number
of public libraries. This was
demonstrated through Insight Media's iCAM Wireless Access Control which
allows members to use their laptops in the library. This can be an added
attraction for some potential users, and simultaneously makes a library's own
public access computers more readily available.
Other examples of technology making users
more independent of library staff were the self-service e-booking systems for
library computers (as produced by Lorensbergs and the
demonstrations in the exhibition's RFID Theatre. In the latter case, a notable example was
Intellident‘s Smartblade system. In this, the RFID tag in a book can transmit
its location to a computer-based map, and an LED will flash on the book itself
to help the user find it.
Electronic
Information Resources
Electronic information resources were but a
part of an exhibition which was equally focused on books (a number of
publishers were exhibiting) and developments in the technical means to
catalogue and locate them. Nonetheless,
for information professionals who primarily work electronically, a number of
in-depth resources look worthy of consideration.
The Institution of Engineering and
Technology (IET) has created Inspec Direct, a bibliographic database for the fields of Physics;
Electrical Engineering and Electronics; IT for Business; Computers and Control;
and Mechanical and Production Engineering.
These are, of course, cutting edge subject areas in which research is
going on continually, making it especially important to keep up. Besides its comprehensiveness, Inspec Direct
can be searched with increasing levels of precision. Quick and Advanced Search
offer typical features (e.g. Boolean operators and truncation in Advanced), and
there is a further Expert Search level which uses a controlled vocabulary for
extra refinement.
Research for Libraries offer a spectrum of
business information, usually embracing both reports and news stories. Among the most useful are Marketline, which
has more than 2,500 market research reports, 50,000 company profiles and over
200 country profiles. Both its international perspective (evident in the title ‘Business
Insights'), and the constant supplementing of the profiles with news and
analysis are impressive. As well as
professional researchers and students, the company suggests that jobseekers can
also benefit from this title by learning about specific companies or the trends
in particular sectors.
Justis specialises in legal information for both the UK and the European Union. The
extensive archives of their various databases (e.g. The Law Reports, 1865-present; CELEX,1951-
present) are critical in a field where precedent and interpretation can be so
important. Pre-eminently this is seen in UK Statutes, which extends from 1235
to the present, and covers Acts of Parliament from the time of the English
Parliament. It now includes the Acts of the Scottish Parliament and Northern
Irish Assembly as well as the current UK Parliament. The Acts are set in context
through links to amended and amending legislation.
A
Shot in the Dark: Information Literacy in the 21st Century
This was the title of a stimulating talk given
in one of the seminar theatres by Peter Godwin, Academic Liaison Librarian at
the University of
Bedfordshire. He is also
co-editor of the book "Information Literacy Meets Library 2.0", which
appropriately is complimented by a blog at http://infolitlib20.blogspot.com. Although his talk was rooted in his
experience with students, it had implications for information professionals in
all sectors both in terms of spreading awareness of the kind of tools now
available, and the expectations of our users/customers that these encourage.
He first set the contemporary scene by
citing reports on the current and likely future behaviour of researchers.
According to ‘Researchers' use of academic libraries and their services', published in 2007 by the Research Information Network, Google is regularly used
by 70% of such researchers. This behaviour underpins the attitude ‘If it isn't
on Google, it doesn't exist'. A similar
point is made by the 2008 CIBER report, ‘Information behaviour of the
researcher of the future' that researchers don't understand the structure of the Web, and limit
themselves to a particular search engine because they regard it as their
favoured ‘brand'.
Such blinkered behaviour can be improved
upon through Information Literacy (IL).
Godwin pointed to the principles of the Seven Pillars of Information
Literacy model developed by SCONUL, focusing on ‘comparing and evaluating'
sources as the most important principle because it leads to an understanding of
which sources can be trusted. In a digital world in which, as he said, ‘Content
has left the container', we as professionals have to adapt.
The change in the way libraries or learning
centres must adapt to engage their users was illustrated by examples from British
universities. Their very design has changed, as in the Information Commons at
Sheffield, or the Business School ‘pods' at Bedfordshire, to encourage
collaboration as in the Web 2.0 world where students (and, by analogy, other
Internet users) are becoming collaborators, synthesisers and adaptors.
Information professionals need to take on similar roles, while also promoting
IL. In the Bedfordshire example, some rooms are designated as ‘caves' where
librarians involve themselves with students' projects in a practical way,
demonstrating databases and advising how to assess the types of information
found in searches. Godwin himself likes to use Wikipedia as a case study to
raise such issues as reliability and authority.
Perhaps seeing librarians as having been
too controlling in the past, key principles he set out for ‘Library 2.0' were:
- Find out your users' changing needs
- Believe in your users
- Be rid of the culture of perfect
- Become aware of emerging technologies.
Concentrating on the last principle and
some of the most popular Web 2.0 examples, he advocated libraries getting links
to their resources on Facebook, and similarly participating in Del.ic.ious and
Second Life. He also noted the rise in popularity of visual applications for
grasping information, as in the application Aqua Browser.
He concluded that the way forward in
working with students is to change their Internet-created habits rather than
their skills, and to help improve the quality of the questions they ask. These
ideas are readily transferable to working with users in many other contexts.
Importance
of information literacy
The Library and Information Show evidenced
the continuing effort of information professionals to make information
available, and of companies to create rich resources, or more comprehensive
means of accessing resources. But information literacy is critical. Otherwise
many of these efforts will be short-circuited by the tendency of many people to
Google, literally and exclusively.
Having begun his career in academic libraries,
Adrian Janes is currently an Information Services Librarian with the London
Borough of Havering. In this role, he has particular responsibility for
information from both the UK Government and the European Union. He wrote a
detailed report on sources for the latter which was published by Free Pint in
2007. He is also involved in training and publicising online reference
resources.
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