Abstract
Web search engines (WSE) are powerful and popular tools in the field of information service management. This study is an attempt to examine the impact and usefulness of web search engines in providing virtual reference services (VRS) within academic libraries in Pakistan. The study also attempts to investigate the relevant expertise and skills of library professionals in providing digital reference services (DRS) efficiently using web search engines. Methodology used in this study is quantitative in nature. The data was collected from fifty public and private sector universities in Pakistan using a structured questionnaire. Microsoft Excel and SPSS were used for data analysis. The study concludes that web search engines are commonly used by librarians to help users (especially research scholars) by providing digital reference services. The study also finds a positive correlation between use of web search engines and quality of digital reference services provided to library users. It is concluded that although search engines have increased the expectations of users and are really big competitors to a library’s reference desk, they are however not an alternative to reference service. Findings reveal that search engines pose numerous challenges for librarians and the study also attempts to bring together possible remedial measures. This study is useful for library professionals to understand the importance of search engines in providing VRS. The study also provides an intellectual comparison among different search engines, their capabilities, limitations, challenges and opportunities to provide VRS effectively in libraries.
Highlights
Search engines (SE) are one of the most remarkable innovations of the 20th century
A search engine, as defined by Dudek, Mastora [1] is “a web application that gathers information items from the web according to different strategies and performs the basic retrieval task, the acceptance of a query, a comparison of the query with each of the records in a database, and the production of a retrieval set as output”
We have presented the current status of provision of reference services through digital means and explored how far the world-wide web is used to provide reference services in university libraries of Pakistan
Summary
Search engines (SE) are one of the most remarkable innovations of the 20th century. Search engines have changed the world of information and are rightfully considered the foundation of the Internet. A search engine, as defined by Dudek, Mastora [1] is “a web application that gathers information items from the web according to different strategies (using crawlers or spiders) and performs the basic retrieval task, the acceptance of a query, a comparison of the query with each of the records in a database, and the production of a retrieval set as output”. Search engines are the most useful and high-profile resources on the Internet. With the advent of the Internet, visits to a library’s reference desk have dropped almost 48 percent since 1991 [2]. A library’s traditional reference desk is gradually becoming obsolete. Users tend to consult web search engines for reference material rather
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