[1256] in Public-Access_Computer_Systems_Forum
Chaos
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Ken Laws)
Mon Sep 21 12:38:49 1992
Date: Mon, 21 Sep 1992 11:14:02 CDT
Reply-To: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <PACS-L%UHUPVM1.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu>
From: Ken Laws <LAWS@ai.sri.com>
To: Multiple recipients of list PACS-L <PACS-L%UHUPVM1.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu>
In-Reply-To: <9209172302.AA00849@Sunset.AI.SRI.COM>
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Hi, Karen!
I'm sure others will respond on both sides of the distributed-library
question. My own belief is that we will have all of the things you
mention -- duplication, gaps in coverage, students scurrying around,
etc. We'll also have reference librarians, and even reference
libraries. There'll be both manicured gardens and compost heaps.
We already know how to do the former, so the interesting questions
concern the latter.
In a military motor pool, one might have to check out a wrench
every shift that it's needed. In an auto shop, there's a wrench
at each station. In my neighborhood, I might have to knock on
a few doors to find a neighbor who will loan me one. One possible
role of librarians, figuratively, is to keep track of which of
my neighbors have wrenches.
I once worked as a property clerk for a summer, tracking down
and inventorying the physical property at a state hospital --
chairs, beds, wheelchairs, surgical tools, etc. Very few
items were where they were supposed to be, but the computer
records were a close enough approximation to reality for
accounting purposes and for tracking down individual items
when necessary. The fact that such cataloging is impossible
does not mean that it shouldn't be attempted.
-- Ken Laws
The Computists' Communique
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