7 - Portals and personalization: mechanisms for end-user access

Summary

The digital library provides convenience, customization, community, accessibility, and quality.

(Guenther, 2000, 39)

The user, having entered the portal, never leaves – the portal goes out into the information universe on his or her behalf.

(Brophy, 2001)

Introduction

The focus of this chapter is on the portal as a means of disseminating and providing information in the digital world. Portals are points of focus where people plan and begin voyages on the internet. Portal content and design is often about developing a desire in the user for information of a type that will ensure they will return, and frequently, to the portal. Thus, concepts of marketing and brand loyalty will be discussed here, along with the synergy of the information resources accessible, the various products offered, the delivery of what the user wants, and the price they are prepared to pay. Many service providers will need to consider their ability to personalize and customize access to portal and digital library resources. The portal and personalized information environment (PIE) may be the answer to satisfying the core objective of easing the information glut that prevents users finding the most appropriate and relevant information. Will the portal be an answer to information overload, or is the portal maybe a Trojan horse of e-commerce companies aiming to reduce our individual choices and decrease the role of the library?

This chapter will discuss the following issues:

• • defining the users’ digital content dilemma

• • delivering content with portals

• • the portal as a community tool

• • the importance of content

• • branding and marketing in the portal arena

• • delivering information and delighting the user

• • personalization.

Defining the users’ digital content dilemma

The delivery of well-designed and developed digital library resources is only one aspect of the solution needed from the user's perspective. The other aspects revolve around finding and using information as quickly as possible in this digital era. As described in Chapter 1 ‘Digital futures in current contexts’, information growth is exponential, and selecting the most relevent materials has become a distinct challenge. The Search Rage study (Sullivan, 2001) suggests that almost one-third of Americans do more than one internet search every day and 80% at least once a week, with 60% accruing more than one hour of searching per week.