anatomy of a netscam -Reply -Reply

[KAREN SCHNEIDER]

I agree with Wilfred that more studies need to be done on what goes
through people's minds when they use electronic services.  However,
there is a difference between assuming someone is stupid (which we do
not) and assuming they are naive with respect to a particular resource.  It
is our job, for that matter, to help them cross this bridge. We work with
people every day and listen to them as they articulate what they see and
what they do.  While some users may understand enough about the
Internet to be able to distinguish between commercial and noncommercial
resources, many more do not.  We sit next to users as they search and
talk with them in weekly formal training classes. Many of our users are
very intelligent, dedicated people who are highly skilled in other areas. 
But that does not mean they know how to save a file in Netscape or that
Yahoo is a commercial service.  For that matter, they do not understand
that the right down arrow on a click-down box on an HTML form means
that there are more choices to choose from.  Basic educational issues such
as these are what we are busy addressing.  (In the last instance, we
rewrote the html front end to several EPA databases based on
commonly-observed problems using forms.)

for all I know there may be piles of studies out there "proving" what
users think as they search the Internet.  Perhaps these studies disprove
what we observe every day in this library.  Fine.  I'm all for protecting
the academic pyramid schemes that keep so many people fed and
sheltered.   But we shouldn't HAVE to train users to watch out for
resources.  We can only get to the folks who come to the library--there
are many more out there who need us, not just teaching them that Yahoo
is full of ads, but provding real alternatives.  Just because OCLC can't do
it right doesn't mean it shouldn't be done.

Karen G. Schneider/opinions mine alone