Yahoo has successfully defined the first generation of web library. It started at a time when there was no central portal to help locate specific web sites among the many potential locations. They established both a subject index for the web as well as tools to enable searching for specific target words among the site information.

While Yahoo has been incredibly successful both as a user service and as a commercial venture, it suffers from a serious lack of academic focus. Yahoo indexes virtually any site without much regard to the quality of the information or its usefulness for professional scholarship.

Many libraries have created their private indexes of recommended sites. Even Skidmore has launched a series of index pages. These small collections, however, are inherently flawed since very few libraries have sufficient personnel to develop and maintain effective indexes.

Academia: The Scholarly Yahoo

One solution might be for libraries to combine their tradition of resource sharing with the ease of Internet linking to develop a more coordinated approach to web indexing. For example, each library might specialize in a specific discipline; identifying, evaluating, and indexing the best scholarly web sites for that area. Through Internet linking, the users see a single comprehensive academic portal combining the best resources across all disciplines even though only a small portion of the content is locally developed.

Some Pilot Projects

• Project CuRL (Wesleyan, Conn College, Trinity, Dartmouth, & Williams)
• CyberStacks (Iowa State)
• NetFirst (OCLC) (Connect via Skidmore Library)

Meanwhile, the Library of Congress is coordinating the Collaborative Digital Reference Service (CDRS), an initiative to link public libraries worldwide into a network of free services to assist scholars in locating and utilizing reference services -- including both online and traditional sources. The project is currently in its pilot stages and will soon begin public service.

Here's a humorous view of the new digital librarian role.