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April 17, 2005

The Google Opportunity

Google definitely has librarians worried; it's changing the information world as we know it and many librarians are wondering if the order will have a place for libraries and librarians.

Barbara Quint, never one to mince words, comes right out and says it in Searcher's Voice - Tick Tock,(Searcher, Feb. 2005):

"..all information professionals have known that the Universal Virtual Library is growing out of the Web and its search engines and that, some day, this emerging phenomenon will threaten and finally engulf the world of traditional, brick-and-mortar libraries." She even gives us a timeline, tied to Google's development cycle, suggesting that we have until 2011, 2015 at the latest. Don't worry, she sees hope for our future, but she suggests we start preparing...NOW. Unless, that is, you're due to retire by 2011.

Stephen Abram discusses the "Googlized landscape" in his article
The Google Opportunity by Stephen Abram (Library Journal, Feb. 2005). He asks the eternal question "Can libraries compete, complement, or cooperate? Or will we lose out?" He then goes on to list ten key things your can do in a Google world.

There's some good ideas here; the article is definitely worth reading. One of my favorite comments is "Recognize that librarians' and library works' key contributions aren't merely collecting, organizing, and delivering the information - it's improving the quality of the question." Other suggestions include "Push content out", "Get on the bandwagon early", Get into the community", just to name a few.

These two articles make good companions. Barbara's to tell us the future, and Stephen Abrams' to tell us how to prepare. Are you ready?

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