The Internet and the Changing Information Environment

The subject of the Internet and its impact has produced a multitude of published materials of varying quality and authority. This text, written by Peter Williams and David Nicholas of the Internet Studies Research Group at City University, immediately has credibility. The authors set themselves a number of fundamental questions to answer such questions as who uses the Internet, why do they use it, what are the benefits, how is it judged and what impact is it having on traditional information and communication services? The answers presented draw on a range of research studies undertaken by the authors complemented by data from more than 400 interviews with users and information professionals and Web activity analysis findings.

The work is divided into three parts which cover Internet statistics, Internet features and Internet users with each part being further sub‐divided into clearly labelled sections. There is also a short concluding chapter. The bibliography is extensive and includes not surprisingly many references to Websites and journal articles rather than monographs. There is an index but some of the entry terms, for example “follow‐up sources for Internet information”, may not be obvious access points.

The authors have provided a wealth of detail about the Internet and expertly explore the way in which it is having an effect on the end‐user with its consequent implications for information professionals. The conclusion, although briefly, raises some interesting points about the strong possibility that paying for information will be seen as acceptable in a world dominated by the high cost environment of the mobile phone.

As an academic I find this work of great interest and great value because all of the points made are underpinned by rigorous research findings. It is however disappointing that the authors did not take the opportunity to provide summaries at the end of each part.

The description of the work on the back cover claims that it is a strategic report which will:

… provide managers with information as to the real value of the Internet as an information source and how it is being exploited, as well as pointers to its future development.

I doubt whether managers will be prepared to and in fact need to read all of the detail but it does carry some important messages for them. Inevitably, as a published text, it is already out of date – there is only one reference from 2001 – but it is a valuable and authoritative publication which captures the situation of the Internet at a fixed point in time.