Do digital libraries violate the Third Law? An ideology of librarianship was created by Shiyali Ramamrita (SR) Ranganathan in his classic The Five Laws of Library Science (Bombay: Asia Pub. House, 1963). He formulated objectives and principles for the organization of, access to, and use of library materials. Given the changing information world, this is a good time to reconsider Ranganathan's five laws:

1. Books are for use.
2. Every reader, his book.
3. Every book, its reader.
4. Save the time of the reader.
5. A library is a growing organism.

These normative laws embrace standards of practice and are fundamental to what librarians and researchers do. They have points of similarity with the American Library Association's Library Bill of Rights, which might help explain why The Five Laws continue to have such consonance for American librarians. Now that researchers and librarians work in a digital environment, it is useful to see how they apply to "library" activities in the electronic world (see Chart 1). To begin that examination we focus on the third law, "Every book, its reader," because of its particular relevance in the current proliferation of electronic resources. The popularity of various "free" resources like Google and Yahoo has often drowned out the authoritative and authentic information that users would value if they could find it easily. We would not allow such third law "violations" in the print world. More important, we are not taking advantage of new ways to engage the principle of the third law.

Maximum connections

The third law concerns context rather than raw content. The mission of the librarian is to build a well-organized collection of resources in order to maximize the chance that users will find what they need. The third law is also subtle. "Every book, its reader" almost means that "resources look for people." Thus, the job of librarians is to help these resources find the people who want and need them the most. Library patrons, Ranganathan points out, often do not know enough about available resources to know what to request. Any organization of the electronic or physical library that focuses only on getting the readers what they ask for neglects two key components of good library practice: browsing and linking. "The majority of readers do not know their requirements, and their interests take a definite shape only after seeing and handling a well-arranged collection of books," Ranganathan wrote. An example of how he applied the third law was the issue of open access to library stacks. We have all looked for a specific book and in the process discovered one we absolutely needed next to it or even on the opposite shelf. Ranganathan measured the great upsurge in circulation after the library went to open stacks. A significant number of books circulated that had never been requested before. They had been useless according to the first law, then they came back into use. Ranganathan also writes about the importance of good catalogs, especially those with effective cross references. He advocates good marketing of library resources. He even suggests popularizing certain books as parts of edited series, so patrons learn that a book has "cousins" on other or related topics. In this way, Ranganathan suggested, new vistas are opened to users via books similar in style and approach to books they already know and like. Amazon.com implements a similar service with the "customers who bought this book also bought" feature to deliver relevant recommendations.

A "well-arranged" e-collection

Now, 70 years since Ranganathan formulated his laws, the challenge of creating a well-arranged collection of electronic library resources for patrons has made application of the third law problematic. With resources growing at an exponential rate, to maximize the ability of patrons to find what they want (even if they do not yet know it) is more difficult. Face-to-face coaching of information seekers is often impossible. Even such interactions do not necessarily make for more sophisticated users of the library. The 2003 OCLC Environmental Scannoted that "as users become more experienced and more discriminating, the shortcomings of current search solutions are surfacing.... All focus group participants felt that easier search methods are needed." Because of today's confusing array of resources, new violations of the third law have emerged. Consider search engines. No one focused on creating a "well-arranged collection" of e-resources can ignore that users are going to Google for quick or even substantive information requests. Google gives marvelously fast access to massive amounts of information (and misinformation). It is almost everyone's favorite place for a quick search. In fact, one could say that Google usually passes the fourth law (save the time of the reader) with flying colors - except when the plethora of hits slows the reader down. With the advent of Google Print and particularly Google Scholar, more and more students and researchers will begin their work on Google. While Google was not originally designed as a library resource, it is now so prevalent in libraries that we must test whether it measures up to the principles of librarianship. We must ask if Google meets the demands of Ranganathan's Third Law. Most information seekers using Google never go past the first page of results. Google's criteria for what goes on that first page are popularity and payment for placement. It is unlikely Google will change that. Library resources should match Google's ease of use but not its criteria for first page listing. Library tools must exhibit all the qualities of what Ranganathan calls a "well-arranged collection." Such resources should have authority and carry attribution to the providers and authors who compiled the information. They should have citation formats so users can cite this information easily. They should provide excellent cross-referencing, not just within a single work but from work to work and to works from other providers. In a virtual library, the user wants the information to flow seamlessly, with no technical obstacles. The user should not be constrained to a selection of available information that is "book-bound," "publisher-bound," or even "subject-bound." At the same time, users must not be overwhelmed by a million meaningful but similar hits or blinded from seeing the one in a million entries they would find useful or enjoyable. Information should be organized for self-directed and learner-empowered inquiries. In such a schema, the best qualities of well-arranged collections contribute to the search.

The invisible library

In Ranganathan's day, resources were hidden from the library user through closed stacks, poor displays, or a lack of services such as bookmobiles. Reference books are still often locked up in a "Reference Room" rather than available online for convenience. Today, e-resources often remain hidden from the user. Our reliance on consumer-focused search engines leaves whole portions of the web inaccessible - the "invisible web," as Chris Sherman and Gary Price call it in their book The Invisible Web (CyberAge Bks., 2001). The larger the invisible web, the less likely resources will reach users. Google Print, OCLC's Open WorldCat, and similar initiatives provide ways for people to find these otherwise hidden resources. In some libraries we see "The Invisible Library" - electronic resources hidden from users because they are not fully integrated into the many pathways by which readers look for information. Design choices by vendors or librarians have meant that in many libraries even electronic resources are organized as "closed stacks." Only those who already know how to search them will get to that information. Like circulating print reference books, electronic open stacks need to be freely accessible to searchers and browsers alike. Some examples of electronic open stacks include adding proper MARC records to the catalog; providing good integration with teachers' class pages from learning management systems; making good use of metasearch and link-resolving tools; and enabling contextual linking from library site pages and subject guides. Even diversions like a crossword solver or trivia quizzes linked into e-reference content can give the uninitiated exposure to electronic resources that they didn't know were in the library.

Electronic browsing

Browsing allows the reader to match one unknown with another. The reader finds "what I really want even though I didn't know it," including all that is in the electronic library, even the most recent additions. Librarians must extend their work to facilitate browsing beyond the book stacks. While some of the joy of leafing through a good reference work is not possible online, new methods of browsing are feasible and nearly as much fun. Resources must be properly prepared, organized, and integrated. Some publishers (Alexander Street, Greenwood) are producing resources that can be traversed by time and geography. At least one publisher-neutral aggregator of reference sources (Xrefer) provides semantic, contextual, cross reference links across a librarian-customized collection of hundreds of reference works. [Coauthor Dove is the CEO of Xrefer.] A librarian must use the opportunities inherent in the online environment to break out of the confines of the book. Posting flat content that's isolated into publisher- or book-specific silos won't work. Compelling online content needs interactivity and context. It must let the user find information in multiple ways and places. There should be no borders and barriers. If there are, passing or crossing them should be simple, even automatic. If searchers want to find all the people born in a particular country in the field of literature during a particular decade, help them do it quickly. Today's hyperlinked and networked users expect to find their information this way.

The semantic web

The computer screen is an excellent medium for dynamic and two-dimensional representations (or more, if you add color, shapes, motion, or sound as indicators). An example of a multidimensional visual display of information is in what Xrefer is now calling its Concept Map. Intelligently built e-resources should help users discover things they didn't know they didn't know. A user browsing online should also be able to toggle between browse mode and search-and-read mode. Such self-directed learning is our goal. Browsing and subsequent reading should show the reader the sources and their origin. While no library should be organized by provider, a user must be able to discern - and cite - the sources of information. A digital divide still exists. There are people for whom electronic networks are not yet accessible. There are information literacy barriers. Until they are eliminated, Ranganathan's "every reader, his book" and "every book, its reader" will remain unrealized. Tim Berners-Lee, James Hendler, and Ora Lassila called for "The Semantic Web" (Scientific American, May 2001, p. 34 - 43) to enhance the web experience for everyone. This challenge will require web content creators to design new interfaces and pathways. In the electronic library, where we can assemble the best resources for our patrons, we have the chance now to apply the principles of the semantic web to their content, or select vendors that do. The third law is violated when valuable resources that would truly delight the reader are effectively hidden away or crowded out by the noise and onslaught of irrelevant data. With increasing access to more resources and more ways to search for them, every book or information source can make its way to its appropriate user. As Ranganathan asserted, "It should be the business of...the librarian...to adopt all the recognized methods of attracting the public to the library, so that every potential reader may be converted into an actual one, thereby increasing the chances for the fulfillment of the Third Law." Ranganathan's Third Law, inherently the most elusive of the five, is the most forceful. Getting authoritative information sources to potential users is the raison d'être of librarians and libraries. CHART 1 IMPERATIVES MOTIVATED BY THE 5 LAWS: THEN AND NOW

The Law	In Ranganathan's Day	In Today's World
Books are for use	Put books in circulation - not just on the shelf	Make sure online resources are available where and when they're needed
Every reader, his book	Break down barriers to the principle of education (and books) for all	Eliminate the obstacles that prevent users from making effective use of electronic resources
Every book, its reader	Open the stacks; provide a well-cross-referenced catalog	Integrate electronic resources into virtual learning environments and other web pages of the institution
Save the time of the reader	Create effective catalogs for speeding the readers' search for particular books	Provide metasearching capabilities so that users can search entire sets of electronic resources. And link resolvers so that readers get access to the best source
A library is a growing organism	See libraries as part of the larger community	Offer 24/7 anytime, anywhere, access to libraries; the Information Commons; the Invisible Web

  CHART 2 ABIDING BY THE THIRD LAW By the Law

• Implement as many pathways as you can for readers to get to any resource
• Focus on obtaining resources that enable semantic linking, not just at the title level but at the word and phrase level
• Establish subject gateways
• Market relevant portions of electronic resources via library homepages and email
• Empower teachers, professors, and subject experts to provide links to relevant material in the electronic library
• Provide personal reference support and advice anywhere and anytime with services like email and chat reference
• Pay attention to marketing: do everything that retailers do and more to catch the interest of those who would get a lot out of your electronic resources but might not know about them or how to use them
• Meet the users where they already are - online!

Against the Law

• Fail to install MARC records for your electronic resources
• Spend all of your budget on print reference resources that can be used only ten hours a day and are limited to use in the reference room, when that same resource could be available 24/7 and remotely
• Organize online resources by publisher or brand name, forcing users to know the specific trade names of bundled resources in order to access them
• Allow vendors to charge fees in proportion to usage or based on number of simultaneous users. These usage restrictions pit the mission of librarianship against the constraints of the budget
• Assume that your entire patron base has access to your electronic resources just because you have purchased and installed them
• Fail to think through what barriers there might be for different sectors of your users