With a Little Help From Your Friends
Leading Patrons to Quality Information Sources on the Web

Theodore E. Drake, director of the South Campus Library of Tarrant County Junior College in Fort Worth.

The Internet is a blessing and a curse for libraries and their patrons. Although there is a great deal of useful information on the World Wide Web, it is mixed in with an appalling amount of commercialism, self-promotion, triviality, and just plain junk. Search engines and commercial directories are of little help since there is no way these electronic tools can distinguish between good information and bad. However, that's something librarians do exceedingly well. One of the best things you can do for your patrons is to provide them with links to reliable sources of information, training in Internet use, and advice on evaluating what they find.

But the World Wide Web is constantly growing, shifting, and changing. How do you find time to develop and maintain a list of links for your patrons? Most small and medium sized libraries just don't have the time. This article will introduce you to professionally developed web sites that link only to the best of the Web and offer advice on using the Internet for research. Instead of laboriously reinventing the wheel, you can simply link to one or more of these sites and lead your patrons to most of the resources they need. This will let you concentrate on creating links to local resources and small lists of links to meet special needs.

Projects such as the Internet Public Library, Infomine, and the Librarians' Index to the Internet have been developed by librarians to be used as reliable and efficient guides to high quality Internet resources. Each of these "megasites" is maintained by a large team of librarians who are constantly evaluating potential additions, adding new links, and checking for and repairing broken links on the site. All they ask in return for the use of their services is that you help them by suggesting links as you discover new web sites that fit their selection criteria.

 

Great Beginnings: Library-Run Megasites

You'll want to point to one or more of the following sites depending on the needs of your users.

INFOMINE. A compendium of resources from the Arts through Zoology. Developed and maintained by the University of California at Riverside Libraries, Infomine is a comprehensive virtual library and reference tool containing highly useful Internet/Web resources including databases, electronic journals, electronic books, bulletin boards, mailing lists, online library card catalogs, articles and directories of researchers, among many other types of information. http://lib-www.ucr.edu/

Librarians' Index to the Internet (LII). A searchable, annotated subject directory of more than 4,000 Internet resources selected and evaluated by librarians for their usefulness to the library user's information needs. Developers intended this resource to be used by both librarians and non-librarians as a reliable and efficient guide to described and evaluated Internet resources. There are currently 68 librarians on the LII Indexing Team. http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/InternetIndex/

The Internet Public Library. This project is based at the University of Michigan School of Information, staffed by professional librarians with assistance from students and volunteer librarians from around the world. The site has been visited by more than seven million people from over 100 countries. The librarians maintain a collection of online ready reference works, respond to reference questions, create web resources, evaluate and categorize resources on the Internet. http://www.ipl.org/

The Texas State Electronic Library. Links to reference sources; books; electronic journals; state and federal government information, including current U.S. and Texas legislation and the Texas Administrative Code; technical databases; library catalogs, including the Texas State Library and Archives Commission catalog and catalogs of more than 80 Texas libraries holding about a quarter million magazines and 75 million books and documents. http://link.tsl.state.tx.us/

Developing link pages for special needs

The links we have discussed so far will go a long way towards meeting the needs of your users. But what about those times when large numbers of patrons are looking for the same information, such as for a class assigned to find material about cloning or a local genealogy club using the library for research. Developing a page of links to reliable resources for such groups allows them to use the Internet quickly and efficiently, and allows you to guide them to other material in the library at the same time. It saves everyone a lot of time, and it's good public relations for the library. Such guides are particularly useful in conjunction with a presentation or handout. These link pages don't need to be fancy (see figure below) and the links themselves can often be found via the library run megasites.

If you don't find everything you want in the library-run megasites you can try the following indexes as well. Most are not as comprehensive as the megasites, and you will want to remember that individuals or commercial entities maintain many of the sites in this category. That said, I believe you'll agree they are terrific resources.

Selection Criteria for Adding Resources
to the Librarians' Index to the Internet

http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/InternetIndex/
pubcriteria.html

Internet resources added to the Librarians' Index to the Internet should be selected for their usefulness to the public library user. Because this can encompass just about any subject, you need to think about the relative value of the resource in comparison to the range of information resources available both on and off the Web, and consider the following evaluation criteria:

Content. Is the information on the site accurate? You may wish to check it against other resources, or by checking information about which you have special knowledge. Is the information factual or opinion? Ask yourself, why is the author placing this information on the Internet? Frequently the answer is that the information is there to advertise or support a particular point of view. Does the site contribute something unique to the subject? Is the material covered adequately? How current is the information? How frequently is the resource updated? Are the dates of update stated? Browsers may allow you to view the date of creation and modification of a file (in Netscape, View|Document Info). Remember this may not be the date that the actual information was created or reviewed. If there are links to other sites, do they work? Are they appropriate? Is the content well-written (easy to read, with correct spelling and grammar)?

Authority. What are the author's reputation and qualifications in the subject covered? Are sources of information stated? Can the author be contacted for clarification or to be informed of new information? Examining the URL can give clues as to the author's relationship to the organization. For instance a tilde "~" usually indicates a personal web directory, which may or may not be a part of the organization's official web site.

Scope. Is the purpose of the resource clearly stated? A site's purpose should be clear and its content should reflect its purpose, whether it's to educate, persuade, entertain, or sell. Is the site appropriate for the intended audience? Is the site for a subject expert, a layperson, or a school student? How does the site compare with other sites on the same subject?

Design. Is it organized well and easy to find your way around? Does the site require additional software or hardware? Do the pages load in a reasonable amount of time and are they consistently available?

 

In choosing a list of links or specific sites, you should be looking for:

I have included the evaluation criteria used by the LibrariansŐ Index to the Internet team in a sidebar. You will find plenty of additional information at the WWW Virtual LibraryŐs Evaluation of Information Sources page http://www. vuw.ac.nz/~agsmith/evaln/evaln.htm

Helping your patrons learn to use the World Wide Web

The Internet is a bewildering place for beginners. By linking to one or more of the following sites you will do your patrons a great service, and save a lot of staff time which would have been spent answering technical questions. You may also want to consider presenting or hosting Internet classes or workshops in the library so you can refer patrons to those as well.

BeginnerŐs Central. Excellent online tutorials covering the basics of Internet use. Manageable size, stays practical and therefore easily absorbed. Includes a frequently asked questions list and the facility to e-mail your own questions. NetGuide Magazine has rated BeginnersŐ Central a 4-star site and I-Way magazine has chosen BeginnerŐs Central as one of the top 500 web sites in the world. http://www.northernwebs .com/bc/

ICYouSee Guide to the World Wide Web. A project of the Ithaca College Library designed to serve as a self-guided training page and tour of the Web. This site has a particularly good section on evaluating information found on the Web that would make an excellent link of itŐs own. http://www.ithaca.edu/library/Training/ICYouSee.html http://www.ithaca.edu/library/Training/hott.html

Help Web. A clear and friendly site for beginners, featuring worthwhile introductions to all the major aspects of the Internet. http://www.imaginarylandscape.com/helpweb/

Ask Dr. Internet. A guide, which features newsletters where people get to ask Dr. Internet their questions about using the Internet. This is an excellent source of information and you can get specific answers by asking your own questions. http://promo.net/drnet/

ICONnect. Developed especially for school library media specialists, teachers and students, ICONnect, is a technology initiative of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). ICONnect offers anyone the opportunity to learn the skills necessary to navigate the Information Superhighway and to integrate Internet resources into the curriculum. http://www.ala.org/ICONN/

Connecting your patrons to the best WWW sources doesnŐt have to be a daunting task. It can be as simple as linking to one or more of the library-run megasites for starters. Your participation in these projects will benefit all. If each library contributes only a small amount to their growth and maintenance, then we will all benefit immensely and avoid a tremendous amount of duplicated effort.

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