Technological discontinuities in the library: digital projects that illustrate new opportunities for the librarian and the library

摘要

INTRODUCTION The concepts of competition, technological discontinuities, and innovation are typically found in a business environment, however these concepts can also be very useful in examining libraries' current practices and establishing new directionsand opportunities. Although my framework here is the university and research library, I believe that these concepts will become relevant for all libraries. COMPETITION What does competition mean for the library and does the library have competitors? Typically, another institution, business, or person is a competitor if they are taking part of your market share. One measure of a library's market is the number of reference questions dealt with at the reference desk or through electronic reference. We have experience at Rutgers University which indicates that we have handled 23 percent fewer reference questions in the 1998/1999 academic year than we did in 1996/1997 academic year (Boyle, 1999). There are many ways to deal with this problem and, as one approach, reference librarians are pursuing improved methods for delivering reference service (Lipow, 1999). What we are faced with is a competitive threat. Insome respects, the threat is very amorphous and difficult to identify and is represented by the millions of web 'publishers' who distribute information on the Internet. Our library users and patrons are finding this information and using it in lieu of the scholarly information available to them in the research library. In other cases, the threat is more clearly and easily identified. What would we do if Amazon.com decided to enter the book lending business? Alternatively, InfoRocket (www.inforocket.com) is a new company which offers reference services through a web auctioning process similar to eBay. In effect, anyone on the Internet could become an amateur reference librarian. Perhaps closer to home is the assertion by Dr. Michael Kurtz, an astrophysicist at Harvard University.