[WEB4LIB] RE: More on Google going commercial

[Kevil, L H.]

The location of the public library in my town (Columbia, MO) is the subject
of considerable contentiousness nowadays, as those who run our local
government ripped down the only library building in town in order ... to
build a bigger facility on top of the old basement. The reason for their
refusal to build a branch (much cheaper & more effective) was simply ...
politics, bad politics: the desire to avoid alientating consitituencies
important for their reelection. In the meantime the temporary location
(where the first branch might have been located) is circulating more books
than the old location ever did.) 

To my jaded mind the self-interested behavior of politicians and interest
groups is far worse than the profit motive in business. After all market
transactions depend on the free agreement of the parties involved - by far
the best way to measure what people really want. 

L. Hunter Kevil
Collection Development Librarian
176 Elmer Ellis Library
University of Missouri-Columbia
Columbia, MO 65201

KevilL at missouri.edu
573-884-8760 voice
573-882-6034 facsimile
-----Original Message-----
From: gwasdin at nypl.org [mailto:gwasdin at nypl.org]
Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2002 1:47 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: [WEB4LIB] RE: More on Google going commercial



Hmmm.....you are probably right that we don't need to hash it out, but
really.......public libraries put "Where they are needed--where they best
serve their communities???"  Haven't seen a lot of that.  If that were so,
we'd surely have a lot more libraries in poorer communities.  Libraries are
subject to the exact same pressures that Google (and almost everything!)
faces.

Gary




 

                    "Karen G.

                    Schneider"               To:     Multiple recipients of
list <web4lib at webjunction.org>        
                    <kgs at bluehighways.       cc:

                    com>                     Subject:     [WEB4LIB] RE: More
on Google going commercial                
                    Sent by:

                    web4lib at sunsite.be

                    rkeley.edu

 

 

                    01/02/2002 02:39

                    PM

                    Please respond to

                    kgs

 

 





The question is not whether Web portals need money to function, but to
whom they are beholden--the public good, or the profit motives of their
owners. If Google's primary responsibility is to turn a profit, it may
be a wonderful resource, but its priorities and outcomes will always be
driven by its allegiance to its shareholders.  And that changes things.

Public-domain portals--LII, Infomine, BUBL, Scout, MEL, IPL, etc.--are
driven by a different set of priorities and expectations.  Public-domain
portals need money, too, but the funding comes from the public (or in
some cases from philanthropies). It would be self-defeating for these
portals to sell relevance, for example, because it would undermine the
public's trust.

If you're still missing the point here, think about Starbucks vs. your
average public library.  Where does Starbucks build?  Starbucks is
putting a store in my neighborhood even though we have several good
independent coffeeshops, and that's because it knows it will make money
(at the expense of these small businesses, I might add).  It isn't
building coffeeshops in poor downtown Richmond, where a latte would be a
true novelty and where their presence wouldn't dilute local businesses.
Where do public libraries build?  Where they are needed--where they best
serve their communities.  (Usually, of course, and we don't need to hash
out exceptions.)

I don't begrudge Google its commercialism, but I also won't confuse it
with a resource created by the people, for the people.  Information, as
a public good, needs high-trust caretakers whose primary allegiance is
to public service.

Karen G. Schneider
Coordinator, Librarians' Index to the Internet
http://lii.org


::-----Original Message-----
::From: web4lib at webjunction.org
[mailto:web4lib at webjunction.org]
::On Behalf Of Drew, Bill
::Sent: Wednesday, January 02, 2002 9:50 AM
::To: Multiple recipients of list
::Subject: [WEB4LIB] RE: More on Google going commercial
::
::Oh My God!  Google costs money to run?  All this hand wringing about
::Google
::adding commercial features and services really rubs me the wrong way.
As
::long as they are clear about what they are doing, what is the real
::problem?
::There is no free lunch and there never has been a free lunch.  Thanks
to
::the
::people at Google for finding a business model that works.
::
::Wilfred (Bill) Drew
::Associate Librarian, Systems and Reference
::SUNY Morrisville College Library
::E-mail: mailto:drewwe at morrisville.edu
::BillDrew.Net: http://billdrew.net/
::Not Just Cows:http://people.morrisville.edu/~drewwe/njc/
::Library: http://library.morrisville.edu/
::Wireless Librarian: http://people.morrisville.edu/~drewwe/wireless/
::SUNY Morrisville College: America's Most Wired 2 Year College - 2001,
2000