Head of S.F.'s Library Resigns Under Pressure

[Alicia Abramson]

Jumping into the fray, without taking either side in this debate, I think it
is possible to deal with this issue in a way that satifies both sides,
providing information while not violating copyright.  In fact it's a very
simple answer that I employed myself yesterday when I sent the following
message to members of my library:

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message-----------------------------------------------------

Some of you may have already heard this through other sources, but Kenneth
Dowlin, director of the San Francisco Public Library resigned yesterday
because of a $1.2 million budget deficit.  If you remember, Dowlin and the
S.F. Public Library were critisized in an article in the New Yorker by
Nicholson Baker a couple months back for getting rid of too many books
during the Library's move and high-tech upgrade.  Also, I believe Dowlin is
running for president of ALA....For the full story go to the SFGate website
(which features S.F. Chronicle and Examiner Newspaper articles) at:

http://www.sfgate.com/wais/search/chron-pro.html

Search for the word "library" in the Headline field and "Dowlin" in the
Keyword field.

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message---------------------------------------------------------------

In our wired environment, getting to the original source is only a matter of
a few key strokes.  People who are interested will take the time to check it
out, and people who are not won't.  It is accepted in the library and
information studies field that when information you are provide in a
published document is coming from another source, you cite that source--you
don't include the entire text verbatim.  I think this is the best approach
to take in e-mail as well.
 
                             *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- 
                             | Alicia Abramson        |
                             * Head, Library Systems *
                             | American University   |
                             * (202) 885-3228         *
                             | aabrams at american.edu   |
                             *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-