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Search engine technology impetus for the knowledge revolution in business education.

Article Excerpt
Two equally powerful forces are helping shape the future of business education. First is the growing requirement for competent business managers on a worldwide basis. Second are the changing demands on our academic libraries as a result of the ongoing digital revolution. These dynamics call for new and innovative education systems such as asynchronous learning networks. Internet based learning nets are designed to optimize content delivery in a user-friendly environment. Search engine technology is both a basic ingredient of asynchronous learning as well as the centerpiece of the modern academic library. A primary role for such knowledge amplifiers is to identify content that specifically supports the lesson plan. The purpose of this article is to highlight the growing relationship between advances in search engine technology and the delivery of robust business educational through the Internet.

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The number of working adults who are returning to the classroom is growing rapidly (King & Bannon, 2002). This trend, particularly with respect to business education, is being fueled by growing competitive pressures. Working adults need both flexibility and off-line support in undertaking a business degree program. Typically, the working adult is interested in a practical curriculum that focuses on convenience and results. Search engine technology (SET) represents a key strategic initiative for helping meet these requirements (Edwards & Bruce, 2002). Specifically, SET can provide a more direct and effective delivery link among the growing body of content material, the lesson plan, and students. Furthermore, SET is emerging as the mainstay of the "new" academic library (Novak, 2002). As a result, the traditional brick and mortar library is giving way to the digital revolution where content is provided through the Internet at a time and place of the user's choosing (Beagle, 2000). This revolution in the way knowledge and content is delivered, like all other revolutions, is not without its challenges and concerns (Harden, 2002). Financial pressures are a major challenge facing many libraries as a result of the current crisis in state and local funding. For example, the library system for the state of Virginia experienced an 11% budget cut (nearly $2 million) for fiscal year 2002-2003 (Albanese, 2002). These reductions are not limited to state funded universities. Private university endowments have also suffered as a result of the declining stock market and an overall weak economy (Levine, 2003). The net effect is a general decline in library collections, support staff, and operating hours that, if left unchecked, could impact the delivery of content. One approach to help mitigate these problems is through the use of a library portal.

A library portal is an interactive web site that provides a broad array of resources and services. Many portals offer customized and personalized functionality as well as a variety of research tools. For example, a common feature of current portals is "One-stop shopping" access to multiple databases. The advent of the Internet library portal, of which SET is a major component, represents a major step to improve "high quality" content delivery in a distance-learning environment. The design characteristics of the portal are tailored to help address the library budget crisis (Jackson, 2002). Specifically, digital material through the portal can be more effectively monitored, managed, and distributed than traditional methods (Moore, 2003).

Some current developments in library portals include Online Computer Library Center (OCLC), 2002):

* navigation by subject through all resources (federated searching);

* full text search;

* customized links to individual journal titles;

* results grouping;

* updates on new resources by customized subject;

* discovery and retrieval of materials from disparate collections;

* download citation lists;...

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