Libraries, WWW, Porn.

[Dspp at aol.com]

In a message dated 97-03-27 14:07:18 EST, narnett at verity.com (Nick Arnett)
writes:

>I'm increasingly bugged by the attitude that repeatedly surfaces, that
libraries  are >just repositories of information, rather than institutions
that  collectively and >individually add value to information beyond storage.
 Would a room full of >disorganized documents be considered a library
 resource?  If not, why do we >regard the Web as a library resource?  Just
 because a small part of it is somewhat >organized?

We regard the internet as a library resource because of its present and
potential access to information.  Is the internet well organized? No.
However, librarians are working on the task individually and collectively.
The posts by the Sunsite group are a good example of this long and permanent
process of organizing the material. 

Because of internet access, patrons can access, inter alia, federal laws and
regulations that might not be otherwise available at smaller library
branches.  Valuable information of all varieties, including municipal, county
and state materials, are easily accessed via the internet by our patrons
every day. That the intenet has a long way to go in an organizational sense
is a given; however, it is a legitimate source of information for many
topics. The fact that the internet needs to be better organized does not
impeach its value re topics that have been organized.

DSP Popeck
Lakewood Library