The Internet and the Changing Information Environment

Citation

Proctor, R. (2002), "The Internet and the Changing Information Environment", Program: electronic library and information systems, Vol. 36 No. 1, pp. 55-56. https://doi.org/10.1108/prog.2002.36.1.55.7

This report, in Aslib‐IMI’s “Managing Information Report” series, is an exploration of the value and use of the Internet as an information source. The book cites only “managers” as its intended audience, although its attractive production and format (A4) suggest that it is intended to be a broad introduction to the use of the Internet for a very broad readership.

The report is based on the authors’ own extensive research on the use of the Internet in the media industry, and is divided into three parts: 1 “Internet statistics: size, growth and population characteristics”; 2 “Internet features reassessed”; and 3 “Internet users”.

Part 1 provides a very useful literature review on the use and growth of the Internet up to late 2000. Not only does it provide a variety of figures from different sources, it also includes a critique of the different methods surveys use to collect data, and the difficulties of interpreting them.

Part 2 looks at such issues as “seamlessness” currency, global reach, egalitarianism, comprehensiveness, and interactivity. The authors’ research tests and challenges some of the claims and assumptions about the Internet. They found, for instance, that the Internet is no more likely to be current than “a leaflet at a local library” and that its interactivity can be overrated. The section on egalitarianism looks at social inclusion from an unconventional angle – the way in which the Internet has given the powerless a voice. E‐mail now makes it possible for hierarchies in organisations to be bypassed, and the Web makes it possible for campaigning groups to be heard.

Part 3 – Internet users – looks at a variety of issues. The first section, on factors influencing use and the categorisation of Internet users, relies heavily on the authors’ previous research in the media, and little attempt is made to generalise from the findings. However, more useful Department of Health research is quoted which categorises users by the number of pages downloaded in a day. “Bouncers” leave after viewing one page and tend to be evening users. “Industrial users”, at the other end of the scale, leave the Internet switched on permanently. The serious point the authors make is that research is badly needed into what aspects of a site encourages “greater immersion”.

The latter part of this section has some useful things to say about the impact of both the Internet and e‐mail on information overload. Their conclusion is that the Internet does not make overload worse, since, as one of their respondents put it, “you can sit it in a corner and tell it not to disturb you and it will not”. The section includes a useful discussion on “Authenticating Internet Data” and “Displacement” – the relationship between the Internet and other media. An attempt is made to predict the ways in which the Internet will be used in future, although here the authors admit the, perhaps, forlorn hope that “the ground does not change so much that we land further back than when we took off!”

The Internet and the Changing Information Environment is a fascinating and readable introduction to the complexities of the use and potential of the Internet as an information resource. Its strength is that its conclusions are research‐based and so all conjectures and opinions are supported either from the authors’ research itself or from the literature. Numerous examples are given to illustrate points. The text is heavily referenced throughout and ends with a 200‐item bibliography. Over a third of the items are on the Web and most were accessed late 2000. A quick test showed that almost all are still accessible (October 2001). It has a very simple index, which includes authors cited in the text.

The information environment is so fast‐moving, a book like this is always in danger of being out of date as soon as it is published. Certainly, the statistics contained in its first part are already dated, although the sources for the data quoted will remain useful. However, there is enough conceptual content in the book to give it a longer shelf‐life than its title suggests. It is a sound, authoritative and accessible introduction to issues surrounding the use of the Net as an information resource, and a gateway to other sources of information. Anyone who is a self‐taught Internet user will learn a lot from this book, and it will be an invaluable “starter” for librarianship and information management students and professionals. It is a shame that its £37.50 price tag will limit its sales to the individual purchaser, but for libraries of all kinds it can be thoroughly recommended.