2 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, May 28, 1997
Internet library lacks
funding, may close
By Maria Hackett
Daily Staff Reporter
The Internet has been called a
hopelessly tangled collection of use-
less electronic pages by some users,
and services that help untangle the
web may soon be shut off.
Many people have difficulty knowing
where to start a search for worthwhile
information on the World Wide Web.
"There's just so much there ... it's
incredibly hard to find things," said
Schelle Simcox, assistant director of
the Internet Public Library.
Fortunately for some Internet
surfers, there's a two-year-old service
on the Internet, the Internet Public
Library, which can assist people in
finding resources located at
http://wwwrar.ipl.org.
The reach of the popular IPL site
has grown immensely since its adop-
tion.
"We just had our four-millionth visi-
tor," said Joseph Janes, director of IPL.
"They're mostly from North America,
but they spread over 130 countries."
Despite the millions of visitors IPL
has serviced, the site is in danger of
being forced to shut down when its
$200,000 grant runs out.
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"We have more ideas than
resources," Janes said. "Our current
funding expires at the end of
August."
There are several collections aNtil-
able to visitors, ranging fro more
than over 5,100 online texts to a ref-
erence section to a comprehensive
children's area, Simcox said.
"It's set up like what you'd expect in a
traditional public library," she said.
IPL is not exactly like other web
searches, such as Yahoo! and AltaVista.
Simcox said most search engines have
"no sense of quality control."
"We didn't want to be just another
hot list, so we spent a lot of time
looking for the best resources and
organizing them so that it makes
sense to people," Simcox said.
The organizers "based it on the
fact that the Internet is an emerging
community," Janes said.
Janes said they wanted to appeal to
the average person on the Internet, so
it's not a typical campus library that
focuses on more specific information.
"They're serving a different clien-
tele (than the Graduate library).
Their mission is different," said
School of Information siudent
FLE PHOTO/raiy
A student works on one of the computers in Angell Hall. Students have 24-hour access to many computing sites on campus.
Most sites include the use of the World Wide Web.
Rebecca Graff.
Janes'said the site is not-int'ended
to be used for il-depth research, but
can be used as a stairting point..
"It's more the kind of thing people
go to the public library for like 'low
do I fix my car?' or general reading,"
Janes said.
Some students said IPLs easy acces-
sibility is an important feature for usage
in one of the most difficult parts of the
research process - getting started.
"It's available whenever you get
tie inclination and inspiration,"
Graff said.
"'Distance-oriented approaches help
in getting started, but it's just a start."
She stressed that although PL is a
valuable resource, it does not yet suffi-
ciently incorporate the more interperson-
al aspectsof actual library assistance.
"They're fantastic at owhat they do
- especially with youths and teens
- but it's not everything. It's only
one aspect, and it only serves a cer-
tain community," Graff said.
She said that librarians are neededct
help people look at topics from dift
ent viewpoints.
"One of the miajor parts of librarian-
ship is getting people to tsk ques-
tions,} Graff said. "It's not just finding
and organizing information."
But the site is still developing, and
Janes and Simcox keep this it mird.
Simeox said that she doesn't beliese
traditional libraries and books sowill
become obsolete for quite a oNwhile.
See INTERNET, Page
JEOPARDY
Continued from Page 1
ance on "Jeopardy" relied on a little bit of uck and good
timing. It began last November when ie headed to
Minneapolis as part of the University's College Bowl
Tournament team.
During a visit to the city's Mall of America, Barker
found "Jeopardy" hosting tryouts for potential players.
"I have always said in the back of my mind when I
watch the show that I could be a contesti anad do very
o " Barker' rid."1 "' e -stant for a long
time. When the opportunity arose, I rent for it."
Barker's friends said his victory came as no surprise.
"Oncee I found out he was going to be on the show I
knew he would win," said longtime friend and
Engineering sophomore Kirstin Kresnack. "When he got
back from California he asked me did I want to know if
he had oon ornot. I said I did and he told me lte won --
I was thrilled brat not surprised."
Barker said it oas hard to keep his victory a secret.
"By my third day iack everyone knew I had soon,"
Barker said. "lThcy told LIs, 'If you win, it soill be hard to
hide the gialt trophy in your dorm room' - they were
FOR THE DAILY.
right.
More than two months after his victory, Barker. along
with family and friends. gatlred to watch his final game
Friday.
"It was sttange to see him on TV all week, but that
Friday he owon was the most interesting,' Kresnack said.
"Everyone was gathered around the TV and there were
reporters there and we were posing for pictures --at was
a lot of fun"
Barker, who wants to attend the School of BUSsiT
Administration, said he will u'se his winnings to pay
insurance on his new car and save the rest for a rainy day.
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-DAILY
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