For librarians, obtaining accurate and relevant information is not easy. Some information is not available for free. Therefore, librarians need to stay online to get free information.
"Library visitors do not have to go to the library in person because they can use online databases that have been subscribed by the library. However, they can visit the library website to access those," said librarian from California State University-Fullerton, John Hickok M.L.I.S, M.A, in a discussion entitled "Finding Information Online" via video conference, Thursday (19/11), at American Corner Room, UGM Library.
John Hickok said that by going to the online directory, the visitors not only can avoid irrelevant and junk information, but also save time. Several online directories mentioned by John Hickok were reference libraries, such as ipl.org, libraryspot.com, refdesk.com, and other web resources. In addition, there are online directories, such as google.com directory, yahoo.com directory, about.com, and clusty.com.
Head of UGM Library, Drs. Ida Fajar Priyanto, MA, said that UGM has subscribed to several online directory databases, such as Science Direct, EbscoHost, Springerlink, and the Computer Society for its academic community. "The Higher Learning Directorate General added with those subscribed from Proquest and Ebsco data providers. Higher Education in Indonesia can utilize them for their students, "said Ida Fajar.
In a previous discussion entitled ‘Innovation of the Library’, Tuesday (17/11), John Hickok said that various innovations in American libraries are possible to be applied in Indonesia. Those are, for instance, the use of softwares and Internet network to improve services to the visitors and user-based service systems, and to improve the capability of librarians there. Hickok also mentioned the reference service of 24 hour’s web-chat, reference service in a special web page, tutorials for various disciplines, and network establishment with international and local libraries.