Task performance using the library and Internet to acquire business intelligence

Abstract

The Internet is increasingly being used as a potential library substitute for a wide variety of business information tasks. However, little comparative research exists on the impact of such uses on task performance. This study examined performance differences (perceived, actual, and temporal) for a strategic business information acquisition experimental task when subjects used a library or the Internet. It was found that task performance decreased and time to completion increased when using the Internet as compared to the library. This paradox of performance enhancement expectations and actual outsomes when using the Internet may be temporal or idiosyncratic, or it may signal that our assumptions about traditional and electronic repositories are invalid. In any case, it is imperative that research on task performance continues to be done in order to ascertain the viability of this repository for information tasks. Implications of these findings and avenues of future research are discussed.