[683] in Public-Access_Computer_Systems_Forum
Librarians and the Internet
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Public-Access Computer Systems For)
Tue Jul 7 13:31:32 1992
Date: Tue, 7 Jul 1992 12:15:04 CDT
Reply-To: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <PACS-L%UHUPVM1.BITNET@ricevm1.rice.edu>
From: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <LIBPACS%UHUPVM1.BITNET@ricevm1.rice.edu>
To: Multiple recipients of list PACS-L <PACS-L%UHUPVM1.BITNET@ricevm1.rice.edu>
3 Messages, 108 Lines
*-----
From: bg055@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Stewart Rowe)
Subject: Re: Trees for the forest, continued
"Drinking from a Firehose"
For at least the last 15 years, this term has been used by undergraduates
at M. I. T. A variation on "how tough it is here" -- in my day the
phrase was "Tech is Hell".
Perhaps someone with an enquiring bent can trace the phrase even
further back!
-Stewart Rowe usr2210a@tso.uc.edu srowe@igc.org
*-----
From: jaffe@ucscm.UCSC.EDU (Lee Jaffe, McHenry Library, UC Santa Cruz,
408/459-3297)
Subject: Librarians and the Internet / forest vs. trees round 2
Based on the volume of response, I think I hit a nerve. The comments
suggested some useful directions for further discussion.
First, I think that my frustration with some colleagues was too much in
the foreground in my postings. I appreciate that it is important to be
compassionate and supportive of the many members of this profession that
are extremely frustrated with coping with greater expectations at a time
of diminishing resources. Also, there is little appreciation and support
from the library, other librarians, and the institution as a whole for
network activities in many libraries.
Second, I would have liked to have gone more into adjusting our own
expectations for Internet use by colleagues. Other Internet users
acknowledge that the fact that they figured this stuff out without
formal training and only sporadic support does not mean that others will
be able to do the same. Further, more training and support may help
others quite a lot when they are ready to learn, but it doesn't provide
the motivation that is needed to become a functional network user. Some
of the frustation I heard, both in person and through this list, took
the form: "I gave a class and no one is using it." This is a sure
formula for frustration.
Third, I think that we could work towards a hierarchy of network skills/
expectations and a plan for meeting those needs. These would seem to
fall into a couple of general categories: professional activities and
job responsibilities. For instance, I think that participation in this
profession is increasingly dependent upon access to email (including
listservers) but it is also becoming an expectation within the University
of California that email access is a requirement for performing certain
job responsibilities. I think that we would be fair in expecting
reference librarians to answer questions about Internet access to online
catalogs. What else?
I'd like to hear more from others about what network skills they would
consider to be the minimum expectation for this profession. And then
how we insure that our colleagues meet thos expectations.
-- Lee Jaffe, UC Santa Cruz
*-----
From: Sanjay_Chadha@library.tmc.edu
Subject: Planting a tree in the forest..
Lee Jaffe is right on the mark, and I have the same concerns. That is
why I came up with my original motto of "why can't we?". In my meetings
with the librarians, I have found the same mix, some that are interested
but can't get started, some that are all the way in it, some can get
involved but don't care and some that don't know anything about the
networks and couldn't care less. Unfortunately, the former categories
are typically the worker bees, diligent librarians, and the later
categories are the queen bees, the decision makers etc. When you have a
decision maker that is involved, half your problems are already solved.
(Fortunately, we do!)
There still remains the problem of a mass of librarians that are not
interested & see the internet as yet another addition to their duties
for which they will not be compensated. The trick is to convince these
people (librarians or otherwise) that internet is not extra work, but
extra HELP, like a larger desk, an extra phone line, or anything else
thaey happen to think makes their work easier. This is where my
favorite tree of the forest comes in. I have found that when I talk to
people that know nothing about internet, their eyes don't light up when
I say e-mail (That is for those nerds who need to talk to a lot of other
nerds expression...), but they get excited when I mention free programs.
People are always asking for one software or another. Point them to an
internet archive, get them an index of files available in diretory of
their interest, and see how excited they get. As soon as they realize I
saved X dollars on a commercial program by using this public domain
software for free, they are converted. Of course, this will work only
with people that have access to Internet itself, and are interested in
computers to begin with.
Although I have not tried it, but I suppose the same approach can be
used to sell people on the idea that you save X hours of searching in
the dark for information by asking the same question on a relevant list.
I know that in the past, some people have been rebuked on this list by
posing a question before properly researching it, but I for one will
rather answer someone's technical question in 2 minutes rather than have
them research it for 6 hours. Cooperation is the essence of society,
electronic or otherwise.
Last seed we need to plant for this forest is to write all we can about
Internet/Bitnet etc in our newsletters, staff bulletins etc. They seem
to produce wonderful results
Sanjay R. Chadha
sanjayc@library.tmc.edu
