The Internet Public Library (IPL, ipl2) was a non-profit, largely student-run

website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google Search, Google, Facebook, Amaz ...

managed by a consortium, headed by

Drexel University Drexel University is a private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a financier and philanthropist. Founded as Drexel Institute of Art, S ...

. Visitors could ask reference questions, and volunteer librarians and graduate students in library and information science formed collections and answered questions. The IPL opened on March 17, 1995. On January 1, 2010 it merged with the Librarians' Internet Index to become ipl2.Timeline of ipl2/IPL History
. ipI2 Consortium. It ceased operations completely on June 30, 2015. The digital collections on the site were divided into five broad categories, and include Resources by Subject, Newspapers & Magazines, Special Collections Created By the ipl2, and Special Collections for Kids and Teens. As of March 2011 it had about 40,000 searchable resources. As of 2020 IPL has been purchased by Barnes and Noble Education and the above layout has been replaced, it now resembles an essay repository for students, also it now has a paywall on its essay offerings.

History

The IPL originated at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

’s School of Information. Michigan SI students almost exclusively generated its content. They also managed the Ask a Question reference service. In 2006 the University of Michigan opened up management of the IPL to other information science and library schools. They stopped hosting the IPL and moved the servers and staff positions to

, and by January 2007 the "IPL Consortium" that ran the IPL comprised a group of 15 colleges, including the

. Drexel's College of Computing and Informatics hosted the site. With a grant from the

Institute of Museum and Library Services The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is an independent agency of the United States federal government established in 1996. It is the main source of federal support for libraries and museums within the United States, having the mis ...

, Drexel also used the site as a "'technological training center' for digital librarians." In 2009 the Internet Public Library merged with the Librarians' Internet Index, a publicly funded website that until then was managed by the Califa Library group; the new web presence, which continued to be hosted by Drexel University, was dubbed "ipl2". According to Dr. Joseph Janes, ipl2 would no longer be supported as of the end of 2014. The last ipl2 monthly newsletter was February 2014. All operations officially ended on June 30, 2015. As of January 2020 the site has reopened with a new modern design as well as changing its name from IPL2 to simply IPL - Barnes & Noble Education now owns IPL, although this is not obvious at first because it still operates as IPL and the contact email remains support@ipl.org. However, the 'Terms of use' page mentions that it is a subsidiary of BNED since at least November 2019. The tone of the site has changed considerably, it now appears to be an essay mill for young high school and undergraduate students. Additionally, it is no longer a free site (despite the .org) as clicking on a essay offering quickly brings the user to a paywall.

Scope

ipl2's Mission Statement and Vision Statement, adopted 19 May 2008, are:

Reviews

The Internet Public Library was generally highly regarded. It was noted for its "clean design" and depth of resources as well as its reference service that by 2011 had answered more than 100,000 queries.

Elimination of site suggestions

IPL has been closed, with regard to website suggestions from outsiders, since 2010. At that time, the site had more than 21,000 suggestions, of which greater than 85% were deemed inappropriate, based on the site's inclusion criteria.

References

External links