Erik Vlemmix

Department: Information Design
Website: www.erikvlemmix.nl

Explorative Public Library Search Engine

The emergence of the Internet has deeply influenced the way we consume information. Motivated by the thought that in the digital age physical collections of books have lost much of their relevance to society, public libraries are forced to decease in size or close down completely. This ties in with a broader context of ongoing privatization and commercialization of the public domain, putting the free and independent access to public knowledge at risk.
We can observe that commercial providers of information restrict and prioritize their supply based on financial goals instead of the public interest. At the same time public libraries become ever more dependent on digital search systems to find books in networked collections. Because the current search systems are primarily goal-oriented, they are creating issues concerning the way we can find books. Monitoring a physical display of books, as we used to do in yesterday’s libraries, is disappearing fast.
By the use of emerging technologies, combined with the reintroduction of expert librarians, it is possible to develop associative and explorative search systems that can create new opportunities. Recommendations can then serve a public interest instead of a financial one. By prioritizing information based on the quality of books rather than their quantitative value, such a system could differentiate itself from existing commercial systems, especially when it addresses not only digital sources, but physical library collections as well. It could also help create a possible future for public libraries as an information provider that supports citizens and gives them access to society and its institutions through the sharing of knowledge, education and culture.

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