[11755] in Public-Access_Computer_Systems_Forum
Re: The New Research Library (and the reporter's agenda)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Walt Crawford)
Tue Oct 21 20:01:44 1997
Date: Tue, 21 Oct 1997 17:52:21 -0500
From: Walt Crawford <BR.WCC@RLG.ORG>
To: PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU
Reply-To: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU>
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
REPLY TO 10/16/97 18:20 FROM PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU "Public-Access Computer
Systems Forum": The New Research Library
I'll second Bernie Sloan's comment that the
10/17/97 Chronicle of Higher Education piece on
"new model of the research library" is interesting
reading--but add the comment that it's a classic
piece of "reporting with an agenda."
To wit: the headline says "computers are in,"
a later paragraph that Bernie quoted talks
about coffee bars and computer stations.]
But if you read the article in full, it's about
university libraries that have to move lesser-used
materials to off-site storage primarily to make way
for *new materials.* There was not one quote suggesting
that a library was removing stacks to install computers
or coffee bars. Not one.
Of course, there's really nothing new about offsite
storage for lesser-used materials in very large libraries.
The University of California has been doing it for
more than two decades now. What makes this report
suitable for "Information Technology"? Reportorial slant.
[You get another sense of that when, after quoting
Elaine Sloan on the need to convince administrators
that "digitizing all the books" wasn't a cure-all,
the writer goes on
"Even if dreams of digital libraries do come true..."
and found it useful to denigrate-by-quotation-marks
"is not a cure-all" in a subheading.]
Grump.
-walt crawford, br.wcc@rlg.org
Speaking only for myself, to be sure--although
the librarians actually quoted, most of them RLG members,
all said sensible things.
To: PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU
