> Date: Tue, 01 Jul 1997 09:13:49 +0100
> To: John Lindsay <[log in to unmask]>
> From: Simon Tanner <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: Lost in cyberspace : URL
> Cc: [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask]
> Reply-to: Simon Tanner <[log in to unmask]>
> At 15:25 30/06/97 +0100, John Lindsay wrote:
> >>
> >> For anyone interested the article is available at :
> >>
> >> http://www.newscientist.com/keysites/networld/lost.html
> >> Colin Goodwin SLA (Social Sciences Team)
> <SNIP>
>
> The author of the NS article does seem to have a strange view of the
> Library world. In this article he comments that Web spiders have problems
> picking information out of the depths of Web sites. He then comments (I
>
Simon Tanner is of course right in saying that it does not make
sense to include all items from opacs in search engines. However,
David Brake (the other of the NS article) does indicate a problem
that libraries should be aware of.
Internet users regard search engines as the predominant (perhaps
only) way to find information over the network. A person using a
search engine to find information on a given subject will only find
web pages on that subject, not other search mechanisms (such as
opacs) which could be used to find additional information. Web-based
search engines therefore tend to hide the very existence of opacs.
In practice this means that search engines limit the
information world to what is available (and indexed) on the Web,
simply because users do not look any farther ('if you cannot find it
with AltaVista, it does not exist). Libraries should understand this
problem, as should publishers such as Elsevier and Springer who set
up bibliographic databases as entry points to their digital archives.
The more general in subject scope an opac or database is, the more
easily it will escape the attention of the search engine user.
The thing to do is to advertise opacs and bibliographic databases on
the net as alternative search engines. This could be enhanced by
setting up Z39.50 gateways, possibly by subject domain, allowing the
user to choose the range of databases used to resolve the search
request. The ultimate search service would combine Z39.50 gateways
and (meta) search engines, allowing the user to find both web pages
and bibliographic references (possibly also containing links to
networked documents).
An additional benefit or presenting opacs as 'search engines' rather
than as 'catalogues' is that they might more easily attract
advertisers and generate some income...
John Mackenzie Owen
([log in to unmask])
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