[WEB4LIB] Re: Coughing up Coffman

[Dan Lester]

At 12:04 PM 8/25/99 -0700, Bill Drew wrote:
>One problem.  He doesn't understand the reality of the library world or even
>the information technology industry.  How in the world would you ever get
>every single library that is automated to agree on a common set of features
>let alone giving up limited funds for the development of such a system?

This isn't necessary.  It has never been necessary.  If Fred Kilgour hadn't 
allowed OCLC catalog cards to be printed in thousands of possible varying 
formats (2 indentions, 3 indentions, where those indentions are, printing 
LC class numbers in varying ways, printing tracings on all cards, printing 
tracings only on main entry card, how to deal with multiline added entries, 
how to deal with long notes, etc, etc.) the original OCLC would never have 
happened.  The same is true of how each of us customizes our own online 
catalogs: what fields are searched, what stopwords are used, how the 
screens display, and so forth.  All library system vendors provide a 
multitude of options, just as car manufacturers do.  One size doesn't fit 
all, and never will.

>He clearly has a prejudice toward fee based services.  When did the free
>public library change from being a social good to a social evil?  I don't
>think it has.

I don't see him as advocating the end of the free public library.  We DO 
need to remember that the free public library has never been free, 
however.  We DO have to come up with money somewhere, and my public library 
colleagues tell me that is getting more difficult all the time.  (Who needs 
the library, it is all on the internet for free)  (We won't give any money 
to the damn porn palace down there on the library computers) and so forth.

>On ILL, he clearly doesn't understand limited funding and clearly has no
>idea how libraries otuside of LAPL are funded or governed.

That sounds like a cheap shot that is undeserved.

>I do thank Stve for getting us to think.  We need to have our ideas
>challenged.

I agree completely.  And I'll do my best to keep challenging for the next 
thirty years, too.

dan


--
Good, Fast, and Cheap: Which two of the three would you like?
Dan Lester, 3577 East Pecan, Boise, ID 83716 USA 208-383-0165
dan at 84.com   http://www.84.com/  http://www.postcard.org/