[370] in Public-Access_Computer_Systems_Forum
Re: Child of Computerspeak
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (HILL_J@gold.colorado.edu)
Fri May 29 11:26:44 1992
Date: Fri, 29 May 1992 10:22:34 CDT
Reply-To: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <PACS-L%UHUPVM1.BITNET@RICEVM1.RICE.EDU>
From: HILL_J@gold.colorado.edu
To: Multiple recipients of list PACS-L <PACS-L%UHUPVM1.BITNET@RICEVM1.RICE.EDU>
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
This is not a reply to this *particular* message, but to the conversation.
This is a scary conversation. It calls to my mind the case of Barry
Goldwater, whose statement "Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no
virtue. Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice" was part of
what got him not elected president.
1 - Information is not all we and our patrons are interested in
2 - Not all libraries have the same missions
3 - Preservation is not all "high end"
Nancy Drew readers, Rex Stout readers, Georgette Heyer readers, etc. don't
take the books out because they are interested in information. They want
a good read.
Books (maps, photos, etc.) as physical objects are not irrelevant. Being
able to see, touch, and otherwise examine the physical artefact is crucial
to certain types of scholarship.
A physical artefact can have an impact that a reproduction cannot. Being able
to see the actual physical object (the Gutenberg Bible, the Magna Carta,
a Book of Hours, etc.) can be enriching, and even awe-inspiring in a way that
a reproduction of the textual content, or even a high-class reproduction
of the appearance cannot.
A convenient package for inforamtion (or entertainment) is important. Wnating
to take a book home to curl up with, wanting to be able to carry an audiotape
to your car, wanting to be able to take the "electrical wiring for beginners"
with you to the circuit box is not unreasonable.
Preservation of physical objects is often called for. Libraries are
suitable agencies for preservation of items that are valuable as objects.
So are museums and archives. Unless public agencies preserve these items,
preservaton will fall to private agencies (or people) who (1) may not
preserve them at all, (2) may preserve a "peculiar" selection, (3) may
be unwilling or unable to do an effective appropriate job of it", or
(4) may not make them accessible beyond their immediate family.
Preservation encompasses all sorts of activities, from selecting the
right binding, to mending pages, to putting UV filters on windows, to
microfilming (and limiting access to the original), to de-acidifying, to
encapsulation, to ...
Where did all this "versus" come from?
- janet swan hill
Univ of Colo, Boulder
