The Impact of the Internet on Communication Among Reference Librarians

Abstract

The primary purpose of this article is to begin to, explore the effects of electronic media and the Internet on communication among reference librarians. We present a brief summary of the literature on communication bv librarians. followed bv a discussion of electronic media and theiieffect on human com~unication. In order to exolore these issues in the context of reference librarians. we discuss re'sults of a survey on their communication habits, electronic and otherwise. In order to see how librarians actually use listservs, the contents of BI-L, LIBREF-L, and PACS-L are categorized by type of message and analyzed in the context of computer-mediated communication. Conclusions are given.