There was a time, not very long ago, when libraries exercised something close to monopoly power in the information marketplace. During the print era, if you wanted access to pricey indexes or a collection of scholarly journals, you had no choice but to make a trip to the library. It wasn’t a good system, but it worked. Sort of. That is to say, it worked moderately well for those privileged with access to a good library. In the post-print era, libraries no longer have the monopoly power that they had in the days before the Internet. We have to be a bit more humble in the current environment, and find new ways to bring our services to patrons rather than insisting that they come to us—whether physically or virtually.Many of the other articles made strong points, but especially from a reference point of view, that point hit home in regards to current library service!
As far as the search engines go, my biggest problem was that of the search engines listed, several had different search focus, which made it difficult to compare the various engines. I usually end up using Google, with the understanding that their are weaknesses involved in the order of listings. I have used Dogpile and Yahoo in the past, but I usually end up going back to Google if I am in a hurry because I do understand its strengths and weaknesses.
