UCLA Student ... more

[Stephen Paul Davis]

Hi folks:  I'm on digest so all this may have blown over by now.  I too 
wrote a mean note to Sony Barari, and got a believable reply and 
apology.  (snippet at end with a link to LISnews where there are some 
relevant postings).  I thought maybe I'd share with the list my response to 
his apology ...  /Stephen
Dear Sony:

Thanks much for your reply. What a relief. I will point other colleagues to 
your LISNews comments.

One of the reason you'll probably get a lot more mail before you're through 
this is the sensitivity of some librarians to just these kinds of 
criticisms -- meant seriously. In fact, Columbia's 100-year-old School of 
Library Service (a more apt term than 'Science') was abolished about 12 
years ago during a university cost-cutting frenzy, and many others are 
currently on shaky ground. Like schools of social work and education, 
library schools are not money-makers for universities: their alumni don't 
earn large salaries or make large donations, their curricula can easily be 
seen as lacking focus and 'rigor'. There's also a lot of soul-searching in 
the profession right now about what role librarians will have in the age of 
electronic information, and whether library education and the caliber of 
students entering library schools are up to it.

So... it looks like you managed unwittingly to push several hot buttons at 
once ;} Hope that helps you interpret some of the responses you're getting.

Good luck, /Stephen
 >>[.] I'm not a moron, and I realize that it takes a lot of time,
 >>effort, and skill to orchestrate a library system as massive as the one 
here
 >>at UCLA, and others like it around the world. I am very sincere in this,
 >>and am now getting frustrated by the constant and numerous 
attacks >>directed at me. I hope you consider my apology.
 >>-Sony Barari
 >>Also, if you have a moment, check out www.lisnews.com for a more in-depth
 >>explanation of the article. Plesae also direct anyone else who might care
 >>there as well. Thanks again for writing.