CD ROM to WWW migration

[Paul H. Gray]

At 01:15 PM 10/30/97 -0800, Karen G. Schneider wrote:
>Can't speak for everyone else's experience, but our downtime was MUCH
>higher with CDs,and the computer support staff felt very burdened.  . . .
>. . .
>Now the burden of maintenance is back where it should be--with
>the company providing the product. . . 

--Thank You--
and thank others who have written similar tales of woe about thier lans.  I
am printing them and putting them in a booklet to show my librarians the
next time they get bothered by the once a month (on average - usually less)
that our Lan-based cd-roms (15 products on 20 discs) give a problem.
Apparently either I am pretty good or (more likely) we are very lucky.

I agree that there are --many-- wonderful things about Web based products -
not the least being more frequent updates. But - from my experience I have
to stand behind my feelings that our locally based products provide faster
and more dependable access.

Plus - when Web based products are inaccessible it is --not-- the vendor
who catches the complaints but yours truly.  At least when I get called
about a problem with accessing our lan it is a problem I can fix.  With the
Web -- I -- still get the calls and have to deal with the frustration (mine
and theirs) when I try and explain that the problem may be in one of a
million places -- none of which we have any control over.

Yes - I love the Web -- but I do --not-- yet trust it completely as the
primary source for our mission-critical reference needs.

As with Karen - I can only speak from my own experience -- and these
opinions are strictly my own [all standard disclaimers apply].


Paul H. Gray, Learning Resources Manager      Phone:  (817)515-6623
       
TCJC Northeast LRC                            Fax:    (817)515-6275
        828 Harwood Road                              E-Mail:
phgray at tcjc.cc.tx.us
Hurst, Texas 76054