The Implications of Alireza Noruzi’s Laws of the Web for Library Web-Based Services

Introduction

Current emerging technologies such as the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW) have immensely changed the way we work, live, collaborate, interact and communicate among ourselves around the whole world. The evolvement of the Internet, which is a global interconnectivity of wide range of computers and networks, and the World Wide Web have created a move towards a new communication trend, a shift from face-to-face human contact to human-machine interaction; a move from paper-based information transfer to electronic delivery, from text centred mode to multimedia, and from physical presence to telepresence or virtual presence. Telepresence is the human-machine interaction in which two or more persons can interact through the Internet without physical face-to-face contact The Internet has helped to create virtual global community where individual can now effectively interact with worldwide without physical contact with one another. This category of virtual community bears some relationship or similarity with the existing physical world, where individuals interact with one another, however it is more dynamic and easy going with the individuals involved in interaction and communication (Xiao, Daniel, Pixey, & Alan, 1997).

In the sense of global interaction with one another, the Internet and indeed the Web provide a better and faster library services and also maintain good leadership role in information technology. The libraries must embrace and use this technology for service provision. The libraries need to be equipped and master the new medium of communication, develop new relationship with users, adapt their resources, and service structure to this newly defined technological environment. In order to accomplish these needs from the libraries, the individual libraries need to take initiative in applying various web technologies to their public service roles and operations thereby making the Internet integral part of the library’s infrastructure (Xiao, Daniel, Pixey, & Alan, 1997).

Interestingly, libraries have been introducing various services on the web, a tremendous amount of content, and the system has had some continuity over time (Hatua, n. d.).

As the Internet grows ever larger, the sheer quantity of textual information continually increases. Basic text, in ASCII, HTML, PDF, probably makes up the bulk of the information available to users. The Internet and Web offer different benefits. These are (Hatua, n.d):

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  Equal opportunity for access to all

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  Information sharing for any number of users at any time.

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  Provides a distributed information system

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  Move from owning model to access model.

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  Exchange of electronic mail and other data files in a wide area environment.

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  On-line real time interaction with other network users.

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  Participation in electronic media mailing lists and conferences.

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  Receipts and delivery of electronic publication

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  Access to data stored on remote computers.

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  Access to remote scientific computing equipment such as super computer, remote sensing equipment telescope, graphic processors,

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  Access to wide selection of public domain and shareware software.

These benefits make the Web a veritable tool for libraries to employ it to provide services to patrons.

Libraries use their websites to provide services to patrons without their physical presence. While some libraries provide only minimal information about their collections and services, many offer more WebOPACs, access to online databases, e-books, virtual reference service, electronic reserves, Web-based user education tools, virtual tours, etc. (Mirza & Mahmood, 2009).

This chapter is indeed to examine the Alireza Noruzi’s five laws of the web, web-based library services, determine the implications of the five laws of the web on library web-based service, to ascertain the future trends of the Noruzi’s laws of the web.