E-mail in libraries

[bboru at si.umich.edu]

More worrisome than restricting a legitimate research tool such as e-mail is
the unquestioning acceptance of doing so. It seems to be more a matter of
expediency than reasoning that leads libraries to obstruct this kind of
access. The difficulty of preventing excessive use and the obvious limits
of resources *may* make this restriction necessary. But it should be
considered a necessary evil and, hopefully, a temporary one. One could well
argue, after all, that circulating books rather than keeping them 
in-house is an unwarranted use of resources.

Above all, libraries should avoid seeming patronizing when making such 
restrictions and should hasten to offer the necessary effusive apologies and 
explanations.

______________________________________________________________________________
Brian Sheppard                      
321 8th St.                         
Ann Arbor, MI  48103
 
E-mail:  bboru at alumni.si.umich.edu