Using the Internet as a Reference Tool: A How‐To‐Do‐It Manual for Librarians

Citation

Smith, A.G. (2002), "Using the Internet as a Reference Tool: A How‐To‐Do‐It Manual for Librarians", Online Information Review, Vol. 26 No. 4, pp. 281-282. https://doi.org/10.1108/oir.2002.26.4.281.6

The Internet is now integral to reference work, but there is not yet a clear view about how the vast range of Internet‐accessible resources is best used in practical search strategies. Michael Sauers is an experienced Internet user, reference librarian at the Bibliographical Center for Research in the USA and an accomplished trainer. Using the Internet as a Reference Tool is based on one of his Internet searching workshops and is a valuable contribution to the growing range of works on Internet searching, which will complement traditional texts on reference work, such as Katz’s Introduction to Reference Work (2002).

The book starts with a general discussion of the impact of the Internet on reference service, pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of print and Internet resources. It then considers the very important aspect of the evaluation of Internet‐based reference sources, starting with the criteria traditionally used for print resources (purpose, authority, scope, audience, format and cost) and examining how these can be translated to the more complex Internet environment. This section includes valuable specific advice on analysing the provenance of Web sites by analysing the URL, etc. The evaluation section uses as examples a number of entertaining spoof sites, such as the dihydrogen monoxide Web page <http://www.dhmo.org/>. To me this raises the question of whether these are easy targets; serious evaluation should also consider examples of real sites where issues of bias and accuracy arise, as is done in Alexander and Tate’s Web Wisdom: How to Evaluate and Create Information Quality on the Web (1999) or Cooke’s A Guide to Finding Quality Information on the Internet: Selection and Evaluation Strategies (2nd ed., 2001).

Sauers then tackles the problem of developing an effective ready reference strategy for the Internet. His philosophy, which is a sound one, is based on gaining familiarity with key reference sites rather than relying exclusively on keyword searches on search engines. He argues that reference librarians should regard “shelf reading” the Internet as a professional duty akin to familiarising themselves with the print reference collection. This section has convincing examples of questions that are suitable for answering on the Internet.

Another section is devoted to search engines and directories, pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of these important tools. This section includes a useful list of the reasons that many Web pages are not found by search engines (Sauers points out that the vogue term, “invisible Web”, for these pages is misleading – they are visible to searchers prepared to extend their search beyond a simplistic keyword search on Google), and suggests ways to find them. Then Sauers considers what he calls “complex reference strategies”. Despite the promising chapter title, this section is really a collection of accounts of complex searches, which illustrates some interesting search tactics but falls short of the Holy Grail of an overall Internet search strategy. The book finishes with a brief section on providing reference service over the Internet.

Sauers provides boxes abstracting research on the use of the Internet in reference work, for instance on the relative speed of answering queries with print and Internet sources. Each chapter includes a list of Web sites relevant to the skills covered, and fortunately these are also linked from the book’s Web page <http://www.neal‐schuman.com/sauers/>.

We are still awaiting the definitive guide to practising reference work on the Internet; however, in the meantime Sauers Using the Internet as a Reference Tool is a useful contribution that will reward any reference librarian reading it, and which will be a valuable adjunct to Internet training.