Old paradigms and new interfaces: searching a balanced development of information mediation tools (PART ONE)

The paper presents a literary review of several pending issues that show the necessity of an innovation in the field of information management and search systems - still, this innovation must be deep, balanced and scientifically aware of LIS principles. In particular, it examines the role of web-scale discovery services and discovery tools, and their possible inclusion among the library mediation tools. First, the article reviews a number of arguments supporting the development of OPAC interfaces according to the principles of Web 2.0 and semantic Web: extreme user-friendliness and usability, interactive and collaborative organization, interoperability, data granularity. Then, it investigates the prospect of discovery tools as the new 'single' systems to search for all the resources mediated by a library. However, such an innovation should aim not only to the transformation of the query interfaces of databases, but also to the development of a new way of creating and organizing data according to FRBR, RDF, linked data. These arguments are then compared with other approaches more focused on LIS principles. In any case, it is essential to maintain the resources' original coherence, and the authority of the data origin. Finally, the paper remarks the limits of 'information discovery': at present, new systems do not have the same precision of databases, OPACs and other trustworthy tools. (NB: this is the first part of a more extensive study. The second part will be published in AIB Studi 2/2015)