Considering the Internet Public Library

UPDATE, 1/5/2015: According to the Internet Public Library’s Manager of Reference Services, Jennifer Lau-Bond, the Internet Public Library’s shutdown has been put on hold, and it will remain open at least through June 2015. This will allow them to reach their 20th anniversary after all.

Last Month, Joseph Janes, the main founder of the Internet Public Library, announced that it would be closing its virtual doors at the end of this year. The Internet Public Library was founded in 1995, and will be just three months short of reaching its twentieth birthday when it shuts down.

The Internet Public Library (now known as the ipl2 after a 2010 merger with the Librarians’ Internet Index) was one of the first projects aimed at providing library services over the internet. The ipl2 maintains a collection of trusted internet resources which are available to and searchable by the public. It also runs a reference service manned by LIS graduate students which answers users’ questions. The ipl2 site maintains robust kids’ and teens’ sections as well as exhibits of digitized multimedia objects.

Following the announcement of its closure, LIS professionals with fond memories of the ipl2 said their goodbyes on Twitter:

Internet Public Library shuttering. Kudos to all involved, I learned a lot volunteering while in library school. http://t.co/WNRO41jNTt

— Kristopher Meen (@KristopherMeen) November 13, 2014

Sad! I trained in online reference with them in library school. | A fond farewell to the Internet Public Library http://t.co/RuM02ebWuP

— Laurel Narizny (@ekelistic) November 17, 2014

I decided to make use of the ipl2’s reference services to check whether they were still actively answering questions. I was in the process of researching ways that librarians can minimize their student loan burdens, and I’d had a difficult time clarifying a point that was ambiguous in the literature I’d found. When it comes to student loan forgiveness programs, the information out there is extremely complex and frequently incomplete or contradictory. Even the supposed authorities on the matter sometimes don’t know the answers to the more obscure questions regarding the laws.

I asked the ipl2’s reference service a specific, very difficult question about a fringe rule relating to Public Service Loan Forgiveness. They emailed me their response the same day. Their answer was lengthy and exhaustive. They employed best practices in answering reference questions. They restated my question to ensure they’d understood correctly. They rightly pointed out that, as librarians, they were not in a position to offer financial advice. However, they did provide annotated links to various official publications with relevant information, including difficult-to-locate sources I’d missed. They also included contact information for relevant authorities on student loan plans. They closed by letting me know that if I still needed more information I could contact them again. Their answer was extremely helpful, and the resources provided contained the information I needed. I was very impressed with the quality and alacrity of the ipl2’s reference services, especially this close to shutdown.

However, despite the high quality of the ipl2’s services, the ways that librarians interact with the internet has undergone a sea change, and new approaches are needed. I spoke with Eileen Abels, Dean of Simmons College’s School of Library and Information Science, about her thoughts on the ipl2’s shutdown. Abels formerly oversaw the ipl2 while serving as associate dean of the iSchool at Drexel. She had this to say:

When the IPL first came on the scene in 1995, it was a visionary resource.  Joe Janes asked his students at Michigan to imagine what the Internet could do for librarians and what librarians could do for the Internet. How the world has changed since then, with tools and resources that we could not have imagined in 1995!  The IPL served a purpose and met a need at that time.  New resources are being introduced at a rapid pace. It is remarkable that the IPL was sustained for as long was it was.

When the IPL was first introduced, libraries did not have internet-based services.  That was what was so forward-thinking at that time.  Now, most libraries offer e-mail, chat, and/or text services.  Most libraries have websites that patrons can navigate for themselves.  Now, libraries have to offer services via the Web and they have to be easily accessible to their patrons who now have many options for information seeking.

Librarians need to look for ways to integrate themselves into information seeking.  We need to offer services that highlight our expertise – evaluating information, finding the right information in the right format at the right time, and packaging the information for easy use. At this point, it is time for LIS educators to develop a new and novel resource.  The IPL will be our inspiration.