Building and Using the Universal Library

It's the Freebies Stupid

01March2000

No, the title is not an insult, it is a play on Bill Clinton's mantra to his 1992 election campaign, "It's the economy stupid." One of the primary differences between the library and any other communications or information technology it that access is free and unfettered. One can access anything in the library's collection, and through inter-library loan, many other libraries, for free and without the fear that one's interests will be kept on file.
Whereas, even though we might tend to think of the television, radio, and up until recently the Internet, as free - they are most definitely not. The illusion of this resides in the medium of dissemination. Television and radio both use waves to carry information to the receiver, only the receiving device is the only initial cost required. What is often overlooked is that the content of the programs is paid for, as it is in print materials such as periodicals and newspapers, by advertising.
Most do not see this as being a cost for usage, but underlying the nature of advertisement is the expectation that you the viewer will be prompted by the advertising seen or heard between the material the viewer is engaged by. Here is where the illusion resides, advertising is designed to complement the viewer's interests; now they might not know specifically what your interests, but as a rule the advertising is targeted at a market relative to the material it is coupled with. Every time a purchase is made with a credit or debit card, the exercising of your interests is duly noted, thus informing various entities of those interests, which inevitably helps them to target their marketing and advertising to that individual's tastes and interests.
The price paid is not in monetary terms, but in influence, as advertisers look at psychology and sociology to further hone their skills at manipulating the viewer to buy, they increase the cost that viewer pays for the information or entertainment.