Abstract
Examines how the World Wide Web is used by end-users and information professionals in the media, in particular at SMG Newspapers (publisher of The Herald, the Sunday Herald and the Evening Times). Concludes that, whereas journalists find that the Web offers many benefits deriving from rapid access to information and the facility for serendipitous browsing, information professionals use the Web both as an information source and a technology for developing better information services through the creation of intranets for synthesizing external and internal sources of information. Takes this difference in approach to the Web as the starting point of the discussion of the future role of the librarian and information professional in a world increasingly dominated by the Web. Practical experience suggests that their role will be to exploit the power of Web technologies to develop high value information services and enable end-users, such as journalists, to concentrate on the job in which they have the comparative advantage.
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