It is sometimes the case that combined with such unrealistically high expectations
goes a surprising lack of appreciation of basic points: that, for example, library
collections do not just happen, but have been created based on a knowledge of needs of
user groups. This point will be referred to later, in the context of the need to make the
nature of the digital library collection more visible.
Nonetheless, expectations of the digital library will generally be so far above those
of any conventional library service as to suggest that users see these are quite different
environments. As Straw (2003) puts it:
The disconnect between the users expectations and the librarians reality is often greater in
the virtual world than in the traditional face-to-face meeting. Increasingly more users see the
virtual reference encounter as magically solving a whole range of problems with instant
answers and full-text electronic content.
One rather cynical way of viewing this (mentioned by several participants at the LIDA
workshop) is that users may have a rather negative view of conventional libraries –
and indeed librarians – so that a digital equivalent automatically invokes higher
expectation. Any disillusionment which results from such expectation being
disappointed indicates that it is not, in fact, such a big difference between the
digital library and its traditional equivalent. While there may well be some truth in
this, expectations of digital libraries seem to rest on more positive foundations.