Magazine Article

Where Does that Electronic Resource Fit on the Library Web Page?

Digby, Todd R

2004

Overview

The author of this article is an automation librarian, but at times he also works at the reference desk, as well as teaching library instruction and literacy classes. Working at the reference desk, he learns how users handle their library's information technology. This article explores the conclusions that the author has reached regarding the issues of how users handle their library information technology and what librarians are doing to present their electronic resources to the users. According to the author, today's electronic resources have evolved from indexes that mimicked their print equivalents to whole new forms of information that were never available before. So, they need a new plan to present these new resources. He realized that many researchers are not aware of the variety and types of electronic resources that are now available. Therefore, the role of informing searchers and leading them to the various types of resources was and remains the role of the reference librarian. The author also presents a number of suggestions on how to improve access and awareness. The first method is categorizing by the type of resource, such as books, journal articles, reference sources, and occasionally, electronic books. The second method is presenting materials based on the general subject that a resource fits into. Looking toward the future, Digby believes that a library software holds exciting opportunities to the searchers.

• Publisher: Information Today, Inc,Information Today
• Subject: Access to Information / Adult Literacy / Company systems management / Company Web site/Web page / Computer Software / Design and construction / Directories / E-books / Educational Technology / Electronic documents / Electronic media / Exact sciences and technology / Information and communication sciences / Information and document management systems / Information literacy / Information management / Information Retrieval / Information retrieval systems. Information and document management system / Information science. Documentation / Information Technology / Integrated library systems-ILS / Internet resources / Librarians / Libraries / Library Automation / Library catalogs / Library Instruction / Library materials / Library Networks / Library Personnel / Library Services / Library users / Literacy Education / Multimedia / Online data bases / Online Searching / Periodicals / Printed Materials / Reference Materials / Reference Services / Research Tools / Resources / Sciences and techniques of general use / Services / Teaching Methods / University libraries / USA / User training / Users (Information) / Web site/Web page development / Web Sites / Web sites (World Wide Web) / Websites / Wisconsin / Wisconsin University at Falls River / Workstations