Relation between Internet and the library

Relation between the Internet and the Library

How are internet and library related?

This report explains how the modern internet link with the old-fashioned library in terms of deriving information in both areas, especially in the fast-grown world of high technology.

As mentioned above, in terms of academics both internet and library basically mean information sources. Let’s take a look at the differences between the two things first.

Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standardized Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP) to serve billions of users worldwide. It is a network of networks that consists of millions of private and public, academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope that are linked by copper wires, fiber-optic cables, wireless connections, and other technologies. The Internet carries a vast array of information resources and services, most notably the inter-linked hypertext documents of the World Wide Web (WWW) and the infrastructure to support electronic mail. In addition it supports popular services such as online chat, file transfer and file sharing, gaming, commerce, social networking, publishing, video on demand, and teleconferencing and telecommunications.

While a library is a collection of sources, resources, and services, and the structure in which it is housed; it is organized for use and maintained by a public body, an institution, or a private individual. In the more traditional sense, a library is a collection of books. The term "library" has itself acquired a secondary meaning: "a collection of useful material for common use," and in this sense is used in fields such as computer science, mathematics, statistics, electronics and biology. However, with the sets and collection of media and of media other than books for storing information, many libraries are now also repositories and access points for maps, prints, or other documents and various storage media such as microform (microfilm/microfiche), audio tapes, CDs, cassettes, videotapes, and DVDs.

Try to imagine yourself having seven case studies out of seven classes that you have attended, plus additional university assignments in a week. In my opinion, it might be difficult to spend probably five hours a day in the library looking for your desirable books; especially when you have already spent at least six or seven hours per day seating yourself in class. Then internet can be another choice that takes less time than physically going through the shelves in the library. Of course, online information cannot always be adequate when derived from unreliable sources. What if, we use both of the two sources and combine them together in order to make the most valuable out of these two tools.

Since internet was found back in the 1960s when the United States funded research projects of its military agencies to build robust, fault-tolerant and distributed computer networks; while library came into universal service since late 1800s. Look at the brief history of the two, now there’s a better way of doing researches especially through what is called E-library: A digital library is a library in which collections are stored in digital formats (as opposed to print, microform, or other media) and accessible by computers.Greenstein, Daniel I., Thorin, Suzanne Elizabeth. The Digital Library: A Biography. Digital Library Federation (2002) ISBN 1933645180. Accessed June 25, 2007. The digital content may be stored locally, or accessed remotely via computer networks. A digital library is a type of information retrieval system.

The DELOS Digital Library Reference ModelL. Candela et al: The DELOS Digital Library Reference Model Foundations for Digital Libraries. Version 0.98, February 2008 (PDF) defines a digital library as: ‘An organization, which might be virtual, that comprehensively collects, manages and preserves for the long term rich digital content, and offers to its user communities specialized functionality on that content, of measurable quality and according to codified policies.’

The first use of the term digital library in print may have been in a 1988 report to the Corporation for National Research InitiativesKahn, R. E., & Cerf, V. G. (1988). The Digital Library Project Volume I: The World of Knowbots, (DRAFT): An Open Architecture For a Digital Library System and a Plan For Its Development. Reston, VA: Corporation for National Research Initiatives. The term digital libraries was first popularized by the NSF/DARPA/NASA Digital Libraries Initiative in 1994.Edward A. Fox. The Digital Libraries Initiative - Update and Discussion, Bulletin of the America Society of Information Science, Vol. 26, No 1, October/November 1999. The older names electronic library or virtual library are also occasionally used, though electronic library nowadays more often refers to portals, often provided by government agencies.

It contains all the eBooks or online books, which will be found anywhere there’s internet access; it is a better and faster way of going through every single category of books. Now most of the universities, government offices, public and private organizations have had set up their own e-library in order to give the academics convenience when researches done. Both web-based and traditional library resources are useful when conducting research. Each has their own particular strengths and weaknesses. By knowing what these are, you can enhance the quality of your research.

“The free web is like McDonald’s. It’s fast, cheap, and easy, but is unhealthy for your academic career. The free web is fine for everyday things, but you should use library sources for things that matter.” (Quoted from http://infolitlibrarian.blogspot.com/2005/11/internet-vs-library.html)

Other references:

http://wikipedia.org

http://www.kcoyle.net/texas/sld002.htm

http://www.knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/ELibrary/