Tools of Our Trade III: Books, the Internet, and Beyond

In this corner, sporting dexterous page-flipping fingers and surrounded by ready reference books, we have Sheila Curl, bibliophile. In the opposite corner, armed with a dual-button mouse and a Captain Kirk-like command of the web's various search engines, we have D. Scott Brandt, technophile. In this 7-round no-holds-barred filmed teleconference from the College of DuPage's "Soaring to Excellence" series, the duo debate the merits of using books vs. the web in reference work in the categories of immediacy, ease of finding, searching, cataloging and classification, browsing, serendipity, and--shades of Tom Stoppard--"the real thing" (i.e., the human touch). Although the match often feels a bit lopsided due to Curl's more forceful personality, the outcome is, not surprisingly, a tie, with final remarks suggesting that the informed knowledge professional will be adept at using both mediums in answering reference queries (audiovisual items are, of course, not mentioned at all). One minor quibble: Curl's defense of the Kelley Blue Book's portability and the ease of working on your car with a Chilton's manual open on the hood will sound rather odd to working reference librarians (since these 'reference' items are generally non-circulating). One major quibble: Why did the College of DuPage wait for a year to make this available? In Internet terms, the information here is ancient history (the "Dublin core" is barely mentioned, the argument that Britannica Online costs money to use is no longer valid, and so on). Finally, the audience depressed the heck out of me: many of the librarians that voted "books" in nearly every category might just as well have been wearing T-shirts that said "Luddite and Lovin' It." Still, because it might encourage reference staff to discuss the use of different media in handling reference queries, this is a strong optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (R. Pitman)