Information. continued - October 16, 2002

Overview of lecture:

1. How is York’s hybrid analog/digital library organized? (continued)
- how search using Catalogue?
- how search using Eresources?

2. Effect of using hybrid library system?
3 Differences between “the library” and the “Web”

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1. How is York’s hybrid analog/digital library organized?
- how search using Eresources?

Eresources are, in large part*, a way to get at online articles in journals** (either whole text or “abstracts”***)

*exceptions: ebooks and links to direct access to Web pages (e.g. newspapers)

**Why use journal articles? Peer reviewed + usually more current research than books)

***If abstracts only, have to search out the print-based text, by going in person to library and finding in stacks (thus, eresources is not an accurate term)

Background:
-- how find journal articles in analog days? Use print-based INDEXES

- in transition days Indexes on CD ROMs which contained same information but updated more often
- now using Indexes online –the Deep Web…..

Example: Look for topic “digital libraries” using their àsubject headings….
- titles….

What is The Deep Web? The content of databases accessible on the web through user query.

What is the surface web? -- fixed, linked pages –

- when search engines (like Alta Vista) “crawl” the web, the software follows links to other pages and then indexes the contents (what they index varies by search engines)….this then gets stored in HUGH databases and will be retrieved when you do a search….

- “traditional search engines cannot retrieve content in the deep web, which by definition is dynamic content served up in real time from a database in response to a direct query.”
- www.completeplanet.com/help/

- Statistics suggest that “public information on the deep web is currently 400 – 550 times larger than the commonly defined Web.”
- how search deep web? Have access to databases through subscriptions or software…

Conclusions about York’s hybrid libraries:
- not all documents in eresources are “virtual
- Searching through catalogues, indexes (deep web), web pages different – need to know lots of procedural knowledge to succeed
- >can’t rely on just one search technique to find information
- there are still librarians to help (f2f or online)

What search technique do you most often use on the Web?
- >browse through subject indexes (YAHOO)
- search via search engines
- surf by just following links

Differences between libraries and the Web as sources for information?

1. Web search engines display ALL pages it finds—including commercial sites and “academic sites”: no discrimination
- (books/articles peer reviewed and published by presses; now users create their own “presses” and publish what they want:
2 sides: breaking down of “elitism” + faster dissemination of information + less costly
but readers now need to be their own editors…assess credibility and reliability of author)

2. web search engines come up with different results – (search engine may privilege certain sites because it has been paid to) – consistency not an issue when searching in catalogues…
3. not all pages are searchable through Search engines – “deep web’ issues need libraries to provide access to these “pay for use’ services.
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4. web pages may have banners which combine commercial + “factual” (libraries were mostly “public” institutions)

5. Using web pages sometimes brings unsolicited results: spammed email because of accessing certain web sites (libraries ensure privacy of access)

6. Exponential access to more information than in library: how to find what you need? Technological solutions? Bots?