Views on end-user searching

✍ Scribed by Ojala, Marydee

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1986
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 898 KB
• Volume: 37
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0002-8231
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-4571(198607)37:4<197::aid-asi4>3.0.co;2-d

✦ Synopsis

Online searching is a changing, evolving portion of the information industry. During the past 10 years, it has moved from libraries into homes and offices creating a group of people called end-user searchers. The definition of end-user searchers distinguishes them from intermediary searchers, but a demographic profile is unavailable. End-user searchers perform online searches for a variety of reasons; past trends indicate that enduser searching will increase. This probable increase has significant implications for vendors and for intermediaries, as more and different customer demands will be made.

The changes in the online searching portion of the information industry during the past decade have been dramatic. Ten years ago online searching was strictly for librarians, and the term end user applied to the people for whom librarians did searches. An end-user searcher seemed a contradiction in terms. Today end-user searchers are becoming a force in the marketplace and a topic of debate among librarians.

For vendors, the issue is how to reach end-users and sell them on the joys of searching. For librarians, the issue is how to handle the hordes of searchers they expect to encounter.