The Library and the Internet: A Future Outlook

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between the public library and the Internet from a forward-looking perspective, starting from the technological transformations that have reshaped information centers and patterns of service delivery. In its early sections, it analyzes the impact of computers and the Internet on the structure of the public library in terms of information retrieval, user communication, reference services, and the shift from paper-based procedures to electronic environments. It highlights the role of networks, e-mail, online database searching, and web-based interaction in meeting users’ information needs, while presenting the Internet as a new knowledge environment that compels public libraries to reconsider their traditional functions and modes of service.

The article then turns to the effects of the Internet on the book and on the user community, discussing electronic books, printed books, reading habits, and the social structure of knowledge within digital settings. It emphasizes the new possibilities created by networked environments for access, discovery, and information use. In its final section, the article offers an applied reading of Arab websites on the Internet, with particular attention to public library websites in the United Arab Emirates and selected Arab institutions. It concludes that meaningful use of the Internet in public libraries depends on institutional planning, sound technical infrastructure, trained staff, and clear policies to ensure that the electronic environment is effectively employed to expand and improve library services.