[Web4lib] Libraries: Standing at the Wrong Platform, Waiting for the Wrong Train?

[K.G. Schneider]

http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/erm05610.pdf

I had a number of "clicks" during this essay. The part that went
bing-bing-bing:

"It is no longer unusual to hear about people who prefer to buy a
book online and have it delivered right to their door, instead of walking
across campus to check out the same book from the campus library. Although
these 'Amazoners' may still be the exception rather than the rule, in
today's world of expedited electronic tracking and worldwide delivery, it
seems only natural that we should begin to expect direct delivery of print
material from anywhere, to anywhere. Yet libraries have been slow to react
to these changes. Cumbersome interlibrary loan procedures are still the
norm."

At Library A, I can pay $7.50 per every interlibrary loan and for this
privilege hope I might see the item in two weeks. As a consumer, rather than
do this, I exercise two other options: I use Library B in the next town, as
it offers remote access to a two-state consortium with rapid delivery to a
nearby library, or I use Amazon, where I can buy quality used copies of what
I need usually for under $5 (and presumably sell them again if I don't
scribble in them). If I lived in an area without a Library B option, Amazon
would be my logical choice. 

That's just one small example of how this essay hurts... so good.

Karen G. Schneider
kgs at bluehighways.com