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“Ultimately … libraries as we know them seem likely to disappear. Facilities will still
exist to preserve the print-on-paper record of the past, of course, but they will be more like
archives, or even museums, providing little in the way of public service. As for the electronic
sources, libraries may have an interim role to play. … In the longer term, it seems certain that the
libraries will be bypassed. That is, people will have very little reason to visit libraries in order to
gain access to information sources.”
F. W. Lancaster (1983)
Keywords: Virtual Library
INTRODUCTION
A virtual library is an organized set of links to items (documents, software, images,
databases etc) on the network. The purpose of a virtual library is to enable users of a site to find
information that exists elsewhere on the network.
Virtual libraries (VL) are a natural growth of the ability of modern client server protocols
(especially HTTP and Gopher) to provide seamless links to information anywhere on the Internet. The
first VLs were menus of links about a particular topic. They were thrown together by site managers to
assist the users find items of interest. As the sheer volume of information has grown this approach is
increasingly difficult to maintain. Automation, cooperation and more flexible designs are becoming
essential.
Much attention has focused on the development of automated systems for indexing
network information. Many of these systems are non-selective in building indexes. Others are
designed to index information only for a particular suite of sites. However the real advantage of a
virtual library, especially one associated with a special interest network, is that it focuses on
material relevant to a particular topic. The design I outline here is intended to be a fruitful
mixture of automation with human participation, of flexible searching with "guided tours" of the
information.
Important issues in running a virtual library include finding the "records" (i.e. the links to
relevant interest), managing the records, and providing access to the records. I assume
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throughout that the VL is being developed by a Special Interest Network (SIN) (Green & Croft,
1994). Any or all nodes in a SIN can participate in the management of its virtual library.
DEFINITION
What is a virtual library? The term has been defined by many different people in many
different ways. It is a library in which the holdings are found in electronic stacks. It is a library
that exists, without any regard to a physical space or location. It is a technological way to bring
together the resources of various libraries and information services, both internal and external, all
in one place, so users can find what they need quickly and easily.
Sounds great, right? Well, the virtual library also has its drawbacks and limitations.
Michael Schuyler makes this point very clearly with his definition of the virtual library. He
likens the virtual library to a Popsicle, stating that "… [i]f the electricity goes off, the cold goes
away - and so does the Popsicle, leaving a soggy smear on the shelf where something substantial
once resided. The virtual library suffers the same vulnerability and the same precarious
existence."
However, when they work, virtual libraries can be very useful and very diverse in what
they contain. The options for what they can include are virtually endless, and become more and
more boundless as technology advances. Some of the content of a virtual library may include,
but certainly is not limited to, CD-ROM, Internet subscriptions, lists of annotated web links,
internal work products (such as brief banks), proprietary databases (such as LexisNexis or
Westlaw) and even web spiders or push technology that deliver targeted research to the user.
DEFINING THE 'VIRTUAL LIBRARY ENVIRONMENT'
Before commencing an examination of the role of librarians within the virtual library
environment, it is necessary to reach an understanding of the phrase 'virtual library'. The concept
of the virtual library is one that has developed with the growth in telecommunication networks,
especially the internet. The 'virtual library' emulates a 'real' library, but is understood to be a
product of the virtual world of the internet. To work with a definition that is meaningful within
the field of librarianship, I will examine some of the definitions of the virtual library appearing in
the professional literature.
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Within the library field there is a tendency to refer to the 'virtual' library, the 'digital'
library, and the 'electronic' library interchangeably. Waters (1998) describes the phrase 'digital
library' as replacing earlier references to 'electronic' and 'virtual' libraries. A few years earlier,
Graham (1995) stated that 'virtual library' is a companion term to 'digital library' and that up to
1995 both terms were 'used narrowly to define a quantity of databases available for use at a given
time'. Graham's idea that the virtual and digital libraries are synonymous is interesting, but as he
himself admits, the definition he provides is very narrow.
Wainwright (1996) believes a digital library possesses the same functions and goals of
the traditional print-based library and that the difference lies in 'the digital part of the term
[which] indicates merely that the material is stored and accessed digitally'. Like Graham's
definition, Wainwright's definition of the digital library is also very narrow. A more
comprehensive definition of the digital library is provided by the Digital Library Federation
(1999) in the United States:
Organisations that provide the resources, including the specialised staff, to select,
structure, offer intellectual access to, interpret, distribute, preserve the integrity of, and ensure the
persistence over time of collections of digital works so that they are readily and economically
available for use by a defined community or set of communities.
These definitions are concerned with a purely digital collection and while there are
increasing numbers of such, they do not as yet form the majority and it does not appear practical
or viable to equate the 'digital library' with the library of the future where all valuable resources
might be available digitally.
Other definitions of the digital or virtual library provide a more integrated approach.
McMillan (1999) stated 'digital libraries and traditional libraries should not be separate, but
should coalesce to accomplish more than either can do independently to serve the user
community on the highest order'. McMillan (2000) later refined her definition of a digital library
to one that 'should be a seamless extension of the library that provides scholars with access to
information in any format that has been evaluated, organised, and preserved' and that the digital
library 'adds value and saves time while extending the hours of access'. Mason (1998) believes it
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is imperative for libraries to offer both print and digital resources, 'together they are the yin and
yang of knowing'. Rusbridge (1997) believes the library and its governing organisation is
critically important in digital libraries, 'we must provide integrated access for our community to a
wide range of resources, placed in a service context'.
In his description of a virtual library established at Monash University's Berwick Campus
in 1991, Lim (1996) emphasised that the virtual library is not synonymous with the purely digital
or electronic library, but rather 'a parallel library which includes a finely balanced mix of print,
multimedia and electronic information resources'. The concept of a library which offers seamless
access to integrated print, electronic, local and remote resources has sometimes been termed a
'hybrid library' (Pinfield, 1998). Many researchers within the library field concur with this view:
Waters (1998) noted that an integrated collection of materials in digital and other formats would
be a strategic issue as digital libraries mature and Young (1998) stated that in future, the librarian
'will encounter the twin challenges of managing buildings and print collections while
simultaneously developing policies, tools, and support for digital collections and network
information services'.
This examination of various definitions of the virtual libraries within the professional
literature brings me to that which I will use:
The virtual library environment encompasses the concept of the digital library but is more
than a collection of digitised resources. The virtual library provides access to an integrated
collection of print, electronic and multimedia resources delivered seamlessly and transparently to
users regardless either of their physical location or the location and ownership of the
information.
VIRTUAL LIBRARY
Virtual Library is another kind of Digital Library which provides portal to information
that is available electronically elsewhere. This is referred so to emphasize that the Library does
not itself hold content. Librarians have used this term for a decade or more to denote a Library
that provides access to distributed information in electronic format through pointers provided
locally.
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A Virtual Library has been defined by Gapen (1993) as, “the concept of remote access to
the contents and services of libraries and other information resources, combining an on-site
collection of current and heavily used materials in both print and electronic form, with an
electronic network which provides access to, and delivery from, external worldwide library and
commercial information and knowledge sources”. The speedy and wide access to current
information contents makes virtual libraries a global symbol of the information access paradigm.
The Virtual Library has changed the traditional focus of librarians on the selection,
cataloguing and management of information resources such as books and periodicals. The
virtual library is putting emphasis on access without the need to allow for the time required by
these technical processes. Virtual Libraries have induced libraries, scholars, publishers and
document delivery vendors to develop new partnerships that are working for the good of
scholarly communication in both developed and developing countries.
ADVANTAGES OF VIRTUAL LIBRARIES
1. Virtual libraries provide immediate access to a range of resources not available in
physical collections. Virtual libraries allow unprecedented access to information and
ideas. “A paradigm shift takes place from libraries as collectors of items to libraries as
facilitators of access to all kinds of information, provided by anybody, located anywhere
in the world, accessible at any time”.
2. Physical libraries operate with designated hours, virtual libraries are available anytime
and anywhere where there is an Internet connection.
3. Virtual libraries offer opportunities for learning that are not possible in their physical
counterparts. Virtual libraries complement other virtual learning environments, such as
those provided in distance education and courses offered online, and like virtual learning
environments, providing flexibility of time and place.
4. Virtual libraries often contain more up-to-date information than physical collections.
Their sources can be searched more efficiently than those in physical libraries, and the
information they contain can be updated more frequently.
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5. Well-designed virtual library collections are organized and managed to increase
productivity and efficiency of the user.
6. Virtual libraries empower the user and promote informal learning.
7. Virtual libraries can be customized for particular schools, grades, and subjects. This
variety of formats in presentation and navigation is quite different from that of a physical
library. Thus, virtual libraries support specific communities of interest, thereby, creating
global communities of learners.
8. Virtual libraries break down the physical barriers between users and information sources.
Through the use of audio and video, virtual libraries can also make resources available to
users that are visually and hearing impaired, and they make these resources available in
their homes. Virtual libraries of the future may integrate voice, video, and text for users
involved in distance education in remote locations.
9. It saves and/or reduces the physical space taken up by library materials.
10. It often adds enhanced searching capabilities in a digital format.
11. The library materials are available at the user's desktop, regardless of where the user is
physically located.
12. It allows for the inclusion of materials only available on the Internet or in digital format.
13. It provides the user with the capability to download and manipulate text.
14. It often allows for multiple, concurrent users.
15. It eliminates the problem of a book being missing or off the shelf.
16. It is less labor intensive.
DISADVANTAGES OF VIRTUAL LIBRARIES
1. Every product has its own distinct user interface.
2. Users need to remember different passwords for different products.
3. The scope of coverage and available archives is often limited.
4. There are often difficulties with downloading or printing.
5. Often there is no cost savings, especially when both the virtual and print products are
maintained.
6. Everything is NOT available in digital format.
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7. There are restrictions, which vary from vendor to vendor, on how the product can be
used.
8. The virtual library relies on power and computer networks in order to be available for
use.
9. Users can't spread everything out in front of them and use it all at once.
10. Users are most comfortable using books.
USEFUL OF VIRTUAL LIBRARY
• In addition of organising you e-book collection, you can also organise your collection of
real books and other printed publications.
• Convenience of having access to all your publications, be they printed or in e-book form
• You can search for authors, publication titles and subject
• You can search the content of your e-book collection. For the time being, this is mostly
dependent on what key words and abstracts you entered for each publication. Full-content
search of your library is still a while off, but keep watching this space.
• It can be used as a repository for reference works for a project team.
• Is can be a bibliographical database for research projects. The (optionally filtered)
collection list can be exported to a BibTeX file to share with other projects. Likewise,
you can import other project's BibTeX files to add to you bibliography.
• And don't get me started on saving the trees etc...
CONCLUSION
Librarians are professionals trained in the acquisition, organisation, retrieval, and
dissemination of information. In essence, the practice of librarianship in the virtual library
environment will not be very different from that in the traditional print-based library. The
librarian's role will continue to include selection of suitable resources, providing access to such
resources, offering instruction and assistance to patrons in interpreting resources, and preserving
both the medium and the information contained therein.
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