Abundance, Attention, and Access: Of Portals and Catalogs

Abstract

The world's information resources are abundant, but time is a scarce commodity. The ideal discovery tool, therefore, is one which consults omnivorously, but which returns a selection of relevant results in rapid sequence. Searchers find what they need promptly without having to wade through a vast assortment of tangentially related, inaccurate, or otherwise deficient data. It costs little to build and operate, and it yields a high degree of user satisfaction because it delivers reliable information in a timely manner with relative ease. Such a tool is still imaginary, although it could become a reality in the near future if librarians organize themselves appropriately and commit the resources to design it.