Cucu Alina, Nasirava Hanna, Yeutukhova Yuliya Professor Femi Odebiyi BUS 416 Business Research Methods February

12, 2011 Literature Review The Decline of Library Usage Nowadays, it is important for people to follow all the new developments and innovations because of their essential willing to create and to be influent by the technological progress. It is obvious that percentage of people who still use library sources is decreasing. According to the article Declining Library Usage (2010), the decay of library institution is the most regrettable phenomenon of the modern age. From the early years libraries were the symbols of personal status and significance of people. But on the other hand, the majority of the modern society stopped using those information centers (Akbar Mayo & Havena Aslam, Lahore, 2010). It is hard to use library services because of some language barriers, the places of its establishments or other circumstances. In contrast, internet services can help people use the specific information all over the world. What is more, internet helps people share files from any point of the world. Speaking more about the library, the whole process of book designing is pretty difficult and long one, so basically it brings libraries structural weaknesses (Akbar Mayo & Havena Aslam, Lahore, 2010). People do believe that some kind of structural transformations in the libraries will probably bring more success and it will attract wider audience. Moreover, physical libraries take more time to be used because of the amount of all the information they have. According to the article Decline Of Library Usage Multimedia Information (2011), the increased level of internet users makes scholars and librarians worrying

about the future of the libraries not only on the universities level, but also on a level of public usage. There are new on-line libraries and databases which can help everybody in the search of some information. Further, it goes that libraries became huge storages for books and academic journals, while the level of participation decreased a lot during the last 10 years (Architects: Library, 2011). The declining of library usage all over the world can become a huge future problem for the libraries existing, so the best option for them is to try to adapt according to the development changes. Alternative sources In order to understand why the library usage declines and how to increase librarys attractiveness one has to know what its competitors are. Internet is now the source of different information. It enables people get instant access to data. Joseph Janes in his article Im sorry, youre out talks about our dependency on Google and Wikipedia as the primary sources of information (2010). He points out that if they both go out of business simultaneously, people would be facing a problem they did not have in the library age (2010). Janess article confirms the trend of growing internet usage, and shows the lack of credible informational internet sources. Another alternative source of information is the governmental records, argues Matthew Lesko in his article (1992). It provides free data on investments, jobs, health, and legal problems (1992). He also suggests finding experts and clearinghouses, as they can have more specific information (1992). Lesko believes that libraries are less effective than those sources, because librarians are trained to answer question according to the books, while governmental records and experts provide specific data from multiple angles (1992). His view can help us see the reasons of decline in library usage and thus lead us to finding the ways of improvement.

Rebekah Maxwell believes that blogs can be used as a source of legal information (2008). He says that blogs are more used because they provide useful and verifiable data (2008). The author believes that blogs should be widely accepted and that they provide more information than the traditional publishing (2008). That shows the importance for library to explore and incorporate new sources of information into their system. Shift to digital libraries The Center for Information Behaviour and Evaluation Research reported that modern library users seem to have embraced a new information seeking behaviour that is based on the digital as opposed to the hard copy paradigm. (2008) The Internetilization of libraries is a current trend that is followed by many libraries around the world. It gave birth to the term Library 2.0 that was introduced by Michael Casey referring to the application of interactive, collaborative and multi-media web-based technologies to library services and collections. (Tom Kwanya, 2009) Libraries begin by seeking strategies to keep the pace otherwise its effectiveness is diminishing considerably. Karen Coyle (2010) mentions that a change is necessary, particularly for libraries catalogs and the movement of library data into the linked data cloud is a current trend. A unique system is needed for recording all the text-data that the libraries possess. The creation of an XML format for MARC, using Unicode, is a step toward the transformation of library-specific data into something that could be used by anyone, anywhere in an information system. (Karen Coyle, 2010) Libraries need to code the information they have in a way that would be suitable for machines (computers) and would make it easier to reveal even the old, hidden information. The Semantic Web is a concept that implies that machines can and eventually will identify things and relationships. A library using a well-encoded data provides an easy browsing of databases and

precise search results. The machine easily identifies what you need and provide you with the right information. As Kelly Czarnecki (2009) mentions, libraries nowadays tend to a digital storytelling. The demise of printed word is impossible however the libraries should explore the new technologies and offer to the users what is demanded. Among the recent strategies used by the modern libraries are the online-only exhibits, the offering of video games, librarys websites with blogs and socially networks. According to Kelly Czarnecki (2009), video games play important roles in modern libraries as they offer public programs like tournaments and open gaming events, circulating collections, tournaments, game design, and of course, more traditional gaming activities like board games. Gaming develops new ways of thinking about and interacting with new information. (Johnson) Online-only exhibits became also popular due to high availability and easy accesibility. There is not necessary to go to a museum in order to explore and visualize new things and information. Libraries with a modern designed website contain these online-only exhibits and informative blogs that make any information available. Modern libraries become more than just a place for storing books and shift toward a digital type of library.

References Coyle, K., (January 2010). Changing the Nature of Library Data. Library Technology Reports, Vol. 46 Issue 1, (p14-29). Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?hid=15&sid=aa9c025a-95c2-44d0-b43781d3d3890118%40sessionmgr14&vid=5&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d# db=a9h&AN=48594293 Czarnecki, K., (October 2009). Storytelling in the Context of Modern Library Technology. Library Technology Reports, Vol. 45, Issue 7, (p9-14). Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?hid=15&sid=aa9c025a-95c2-44d0b437-81d3d3890118%40sessionmgr14&vid=5 Janes, J. (2010). I'm Sorry, You're Out. American Libraries, Vol. 41 (8), p25-25. Kwanya, T., (01 May 2009). Library 2.0: revolution or evolution? South African Journal of Library & Information Science, Vol. 75 Issue 1, (p70-75). Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?hid=15&sid=aa9c025a-95c2-44d0-b43781d3d3890118%40sessionmgr14&vid=5&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d# db=a9h&AN=48594293 Lesko, M. (1992). In Our Information Society, Why Isn't the Public Library the Most Important Building in Our Community? Public Libraries, Vol. 31 (2), p85-87. Maxwell, R. (2008). Flash and Substance: Blogs as Alternative Sources of Legal Information. AALL Spectrum, Vol. 12 (4), p9-10. Mayo A. & Aslam H., Lahore (2010) Declining Library Usage. Society and Culture. Retrieved February 9, 2011, from http://www.hamariweb.com/articles/article.aspx?id=4941 Uknown (2011) Decline Of Library Usage Multimedia Information. Global Architects Guide.com. Retrieved February 11, 2011, from http://www.globalarchitectsguide.com/library/Decline-of-library-usage.php