What have you got that the search engines don't?

I hear talk in the library world about bringing users back to the library as a starting place for reference and research. This reflects a wish, it seems, that with the right library system, users will abandon the search engines and flock back to the library for their general reference and information needs. This wish is misplaced, I think. The search engines provide information with a scope, speed, convenience and currency that libraries have never offered. Libraries should focus instead on carving out a space for themselves by offering something that the search engines don't.

Here are a few key things that libraries can offer to set themselves apart: 

• Local or unique content: Lots of libraries have begun to digitize collections that are of interest to  specific audiences -- maybe a collection of pioneer journals, or a set of historical newspapers, or an image collection, or the minutes of city council meetings. If users were forced to discover this content through Google or Bing, it would simply get drowned in the global pool. Libraries, however, can serve specific audiences with a focused search of specific collections.
• Collection highlighting: A library user interface can call attention to collections that particularly interest a specific set of users. It might let users browse a list of top books on a specific topic, or recent DVD acquisitions. It could also allow them to scroll through an image collection, sort of like an online museum. Libraries can play a big role in furthering the goals of their funding entities when they reach out to specific audiences in this way.
• Subscription content: Some of the most interesting and important content isn't freely available on the Web. Libraries can use institutional funding to provide access to this content for their members.

The SirsiDynix user interface strategy aims to match the speed and convenience of the search engine experience with the content, qualityand focus that libraries are in a unique position to offer. SirsiDynix Enterprise lets libraries harvest multiple digital record sets into a meta-index. Enterprise offers users a single relevance ordered search of everything or focused searches of specific record sets, depending on the library's preferences. Meanwhile, SirsiDynix Portfolio lets libraries manage digital assets hierarchically, automatically generating scrollable views of record sets in virtual rooms.

The days when people look to the things on the shelves to give them information are numbered. In the digital world that is emerging, libraries have a crucial role to play. My job at SirsiDynix is to give libraries tools to make that role a reality.