APLIC-I Conference 1998
March 30 - April 1, 1998

Roundtable Discussion Groups: 
Effect of the Internet on Our Work Lives - Future Changes

Recorded by Carol Knopf, Brown University Demography Library

Katherine Wilson, The Future's Group International, served as the facilitator for the Internet Roundtable.

If you have a small budget and resources, access to Internet resources can be very helpful because it is right at your fingertips and it is free, in most cases.  Some information specialists would rather use Lexis/Nexis, etc., instead of Internet, even as acost, because well-organized commercial databases save time and information is reliable.

The internet is good for finding information about persons, like a huge directory.  People respond to email faster.  Sometimes a company thinks that if you are on the Internet you are not really working.  Some of our patrons don't trust electronic information and want paper.  Knowing what sources you can trust is very important.  You can find information you don't expect to on the web.  Valid statistics are hard to find, we all agreed.

There is a worry that Internet will reduce the number of reference questions directed to our library staff, leading to job loss.  However, librarians know where to look.  Others can waste a lot of time surfing.  In fact, librarians' jobs are changing with the times.  People producing the information are not librarians, but organization of searches by professionals will yield best results.   Part of our new job description should include training our end users to search efficiently.   Because different sources of information are "out there" on the world wide web, we need to show users what's available.  The technology can be used by everyone, even in developing countries.  Our effective searching techniques and  advising for appropriate content are pivotal skills which we can utilize and teach.

Internet reference searching can make our jobs easier in some ways, but also more complex in the volume of information available.

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