e-mail in libraries

[Joe Schallan]

At 9:08 AM on 5/29/97, Chuck Bearden wrote:
>
>With respect to offering or permitting email, libraries ought to feel 
>free to implement or not implement these services based on their 
>mission, their perception of the needs of their communities, and their 
>estimation of the resources available to administer or simply convey the 
>traffic.  
>
>Neither blanket pro-email or con-email positions make any sense to me, at
>least not with respect to public libraries.  The question of whether email
>is a valid use of library resources seems to me a question for the
>community and its library to decide.  As for "mission creep", should 
>library missions be in lock-step to the degree that this concept makes 
>sense?  

I'm quoting Mr. Bearden's post in its entirety because it makes such
good sense and for me brings closure to this interesting discussion.
Yes!  Librarians in concert with their customers ought to define
the library's mission vis a vis information technology.  My sense,
however, is that mission is often never even thought about,
and when it is, is done so without involvement of one's
community of users.

A practical solution at my library, where contention for web
workstations is fierce, has been to provide space for our local
free-net to place some workstations.  Anyone can get a free
e-mail account on AzTeC, the Arizona Telecomm Community,
and use our AzTeC stations to their heart's content.  And
they get used a lot, without blocking someone from access to
InfoTrac or the Web.  And since the stations are AzTeC's,
not "ours", and since AzTeC maintains an effective help
line, the only drain on our resources is providing the small
amount of space and electrical power.

Thanks again, Chuck.

Joe
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Joe Schallan, MLS                             jschall at glenpub.lib.az.us
Reference Librarian and Web Page Editor
Glendale (Arizona) Public Library                        (602) 930-3555