Wednesday, December 11, 2002

Quint's perspective on information disintermediation I haven't read Information Today for all that long, but I have enjoyed Barbara Quint's columns. This month's column is particularly interesting. Clearly, intermediated searching has passed its prime. No longer does a search require a searcher[~]at least not a professional one. On the other hand, the appetite for answers, not research, continues to grow. Witness the rise of digital reference as exemplified in the library-based 24/7 services that are under development around the land. Even mighty Google has launched Google Answers, its own "Ask-A" service. However, I would bet that the use of quality-filtered services, such as those with human interveners in place, will rise. As end users start interacting with the Web, they will experience euphoria from the delusion that all their information needs have been solved for now and evermore. However, with the dawn, sad sobriety can wake these users from their fantasy world and leave them unsure and wary about the "iffiness" of too many answers to too many questions. I predict that one lesson will remain learned: End users will continue to believe that failure to search the Web effectively leaves them in danger of being blindsided by ignorance. So if they perceive online information[~]i.e., the Web[~]as both essential and difficult, the demand for quality-filtered, critically examined services should rise. The idea that the web has solved society's information needs "for now and evermore" is indeed a delusion. I'm not sure if I share Barbara Quint's optimism that people will inevitably wake up from this delusion. 8:25:52 PM

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