Comment Re:libraries (Score 1) 366
Hi all:
Allow me to speculate what libraries of the future looks like... Before this, I'll start by saying that the process of information retrieval begins with a question. Then, we use some methods to get answers from a 'library' . If the library is an actual traditional library, we start by looking for books of the same subject index as the question. If the library is the internet, we use key-words to retrieve pages of information. Either way, once we have those books/web-pages, we read and understand those books and pages to find the answer to the original question.
I think libraries of the future would be more efficient, in that it would make use of information held by itself, and answer the questions you have for you. Library users would no longer have to parse through books and web-pages to decide whether those sources are relevant or not. Instead, the library would answer the original question, and provide references from the information sources backing up the answer. The user is left with one task: ask questions intelligently to arrive at the desired information.
B. Pascal
Allow me to speculate what libraries of the future looks like... Before this, I'll start by saying that the process of information retrieval begins with a question. Then, we use some methods to get answers from a 'library' . If the library is an actual traditional library, we start by looking for books of the same subject index as the question. If the library is the internet, we use key-words to retrieve pages of information. Either way, once we have those books/web-pages, we read and understand those books and pages to find the answer to the original question.
I think libraries of the future would be more efficient, in that it would make use of information held by itself, and answer the questions you have for you. Library users would no longer have to parse through books and web-pages to decide whether those sources are relevant or not. Instead, the library would answer the original question, and provide references from the information sources backing up the answer. The user is left with one task: ask questions intelligently to arrive at the desired information.
B. Pascal
