Adam Hodgkin tweeted a link to Neil Schlager’s post about the challenges reference publishers face in getting their products (print and database) used. Schlager builds on a recent visit to a Dallas high school, where the resources were handy but the librarian was not trained to use them. As a result, students weren’t directed and the tools went unused.
Schlager calls for better outreach to the gatekeepers – librarians, in this case. He also argues for better interfaces and improved discoverability of reference products. Ultimately, this is the business case (and a building block in the business model) for effective curation. If reference products can’t be sustained unless used well, successful reference publishers will see the value of curation and pay for it.
Edited (still on May 3) to add:
A call for greater activism among librarians underscores the value of curated content (not booksellers, but a companion argument). My thanks to Peter Brantley for the link.
