[WEB4LIB] open source and librarianship

[Eric Schnell]

At 02:02 PM 1/27/2000 , Eric Lease Morgan wrote:

 >There were a number of things described in both texts that reminded me
 >of librarianship.  First and foremost with the idea of sharing
 >information.


     Keen observation. We can also look at this parallel from another angle....

      The goal for most libraries to provide a high level of service as 
economically possible.   Many library consortiums were established because 
economic / budgetary pressures forced libraries to look for ways to obtain 
group discounts.  Now, libraries with similar needs almost instinctively 
seek often each other out and pool resources to achieve common goals.

     The goal of most open source projects is to provide high quality 
software as economically as possible.  Most open source projects continue 
to exist because they have created an informal (or formal) group of 
co-developers who also have a common goal: the need for a specific piece of 
software.  Open source developers (and users) seek each other out to pool 
resources to achieve common goals.

      It seems almost a natural that libraries embrace open source and 
establish open source consortiums in order to create and provide quality 
information / technology services as economically as possible.


-Eric





Eric Schnell
Assistant Professor
Head, Automation Services
Prior Health Sciences Library
The Ohio State University
schnell.9 at osu.edu / 614-292-4870
http://bones.med.ohio-state.edu/eric.html