Conclusion

Why do you ask?

17. Conclusions

Reference as a market

Reference work is a professional version of an ordinary activity: to provide people with answers to their questions. On the average, we have seen, public libraries probably answer less than one question a year per inhabitant. The total number of questions in circulation must be very much higher. In a complex society we need a steady flow of responses in order to survive, manage and prosper. Each of us look for hundreds, and maybe thousands, of answers every year.

This does not mean that reference work is unimportant or meaningless. But it tells us that we cannot study libraries and their reference activities in isolation. The "answering system" - the whole cluster of institutions and practices that make answers available on an ad hoc basis - is in flux. The era of enlightenment is past. The established division of labor between publishers, libraries, government and media is crumbling. The web undermines old relationships and destroys old business models.

The service itself is not in danger. The demand for correct and rapid information can only increase. But the delivery channels and the modes of presentation will surely change. Public libraries have traditionally offered a broad reference service to the general public. The idea of universality - one size fits all - is strong.

I suspect this must change. Traditional services are threatened from two sides. Disintermediation attacks from the left. As web resources expand, interfaces develop and users become more proficient, the need for librarians to mediate between customers and systems disappears. The more information literacy, the less mediation.

Competition moves in from the right. Public libraries offer reference as a public service. Media, universities, professional associations and web portals provide answering services as part of their marketing. Reference becomes relationship marketing.

The principle of reciprocity is the foundation of social life. If I do something for you, you feel obliged to do something for me. The psychology of marketing is therefore centered on interaction. The first step is always to create a relationship between seller and buyer. When I offer answers, I invite you to interact. If you accept the invitation, you relate to me rather than to my competitor.

In a networked consumer society institutions must compete for attention. There is no shortage of goods and services. Products must be seen before they can be bought. Free answers create social obligations. They make institutions more visible and more human. The improve images and strengthen loyalties.

Libraries face the web on the left and the market on the right. Public libraries can handle a fair number of simple inquiries. But high-quality service is impossible at busy reference desks. Even if you need half an hour, you will only get 10 minutes.

Data on transaction times show that good answers to moderately difficult questions cost about 30-40 euros per inquiry. This is the real price tag on Ask The Library. The service works because traffic is limited. If it were advertised and promoted, it would drown.

Politicians want learners that are curious, self-propelled and inquisitive. They want citizens with easy access to public information. They want consumers who can compare prices and qualities. They want frictionless markets with instant and costless information. But they do not want to pay for personal intermediaries.

The traditional reference product - a free, general, drop-in type of personal service - is probably too good to last. In the long run people must learn the language of searching and not depend on librarians as translators. But who shall teach them? Librarians, I hope.

Acting on the results

Library statistics are still marginal. The future role of libraries is undefined. Knowledge societies need knowledge institutions. But will libraries fill that need?

In the past, public libraries compensated for weaknesses in the industrial order. If the upper classes wanted to read, they furnished reading rooms in their own houses. Public libraries were designed for the masses. They offered information, culture and benign entertainment to people who could not afford to buy their reading on the market.

Table Y. Proposals for action

Define the concept of reference work
Clarify the purpose of reference statistics
Develop informative reference indicators, at the local, regional and national level
Design efficient data collection methods
Collect data - on a regular basis
Analyze data to establish patterns and trends in reference services - on a regular basis
Compare indicator values between libraries, regions and nations - on a regular basis
Act on the results

Today, the shortages have disappeared. The average job is an information job. The average home is a multimedia center. Books are cheap - but we read less. Leisure time is increasing - but we spend it on electronic rather than on printed media.

There is no crisis. Libraries are not under siege. Politicians will not waste political capital attacking such a small, quiet, and moderate institution. But loans and traditional reference activities are slowly declining. The concept of the public library reflects our industrial past. It does not give a solid guarantee for the future.

Libraries are strong on ideology. But rhetoric is a stop-gap measure. In the New Public Economy, concrete numbers are more important than abstract values. Unless libraries provide visible, documented and socially recognized services they will - I believe - slowly lose financial and political support.

Clear-cut concepts, meaningful indicators, systematic data collection and hard-nosed analyses are tools for survival. I do not foresee pitched battles and dramatic closures. But gradual marginalization can have the same effect. Old institutions never die - but some may fade away.

Tord Høivik 2002/08/05

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