[Web4lib] Paperless society

[Kraft, Michelle]

Neither way is perfect and each situation needs to be evaluated to suit
your needs, professionally or personally.  Having print provides us with
some opportunities as well as liabilities.  Having it online does as
well.

MLA is working on emergency preparedness for medical libraries. I am
currently in the midst of trying to find a Regional Emergency
Preparedness Coordinator for hospital library services, so my thinking
is right now is a little skewed to emergency preparedness and libraries.

Power Outages:
In 2003 more than 60 million customers in the United States and Canada
were affected by a multi state and international power outage for days.
In that instance, NOTHING was available electronically.  Yeah for books
and paper, right?!  Well if you knew where the book was and could find
it in our dark stacks (emergency lighting works to keep you from bumping
into things not reading typeface).  Technically our back up generator
could have handled keeping the server running.  However, the a/c was
offline (usually standard operating procedure in a power outage since
most generators can't handle dealing with the power demands).  If we
turned on our servers they would have burnt up without a/c.  There was
no internet, no online catalog, and no online access to MEDLINE.  You
couldn't photocopy anything.  If you could blindly find the book/journal
you had to go to the windows and sit and read by the sunlight.  At least
we had windows! But how many patrons let alone librarians could easily
go back into the stacks and easily find (without adequate reading light)
the answer to every reference question?  The print is there and
available, but there is a question of accessibility.  If you can ACCESS
it, THEN the print works when your electricity is out. If you can't
access it when the power is out then it doesn't really matter if it is
print or online, it is inaccessible.

Fire, flood, Storm Damage:
Libraries who have suffered fire, flood, or storm damage have had huge
amounts of print resources become unavailable and lost (perhaps
forever).  You can't read a burnt up journal or a moldy decaying book.
However the online database resources (not locally held) like journal
and book collections can be used as soon as library establishes
connectivity.  In the case of a total library disaster the library
theoretically can be temporarily set up off site with a laptop and
internet access.  Information in the printed format is unavailable, but
that same book or journal online is available and ready for use.

Nothing is perfect.

_____________________________________________
Michelle Kraft, MLS, AHIP
Senior Medical Librarian 
Cleveland Clinic Alumni Library
9500 Euclid Ave. NA30
Cleveland, OH 44195
216-445-7338

-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
[mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of jimm wetherbee
Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 12:39 PM
To: Mark Sandford
Cc: web4lib at webjunction.org
Subject: Re: [Web4lib] Paperless society

Mark Sandford wrote:
> Not just critical information is at stake.  How many people are
trusting burned CD to store their family photos?  Digital is great, but
that CD probably won't last half a decade.  
Even if it does, who will have anything that will read it?  I really 
don't expect that backwards-compatible storage will go back 
indefinitely.  Speaking of readers, however, another aspect of 
"paperless" is that our various online resources generate paper usage.  
Instead of taking notes, bibliographic citations or full-text articles 
are printed (or e-mail to be printed later).  Compare this behavior to 
copying relevant quotes to note cards.  Someday there will be a reader 
that is useful as the printed page, but we aren't there yet.  Until 
then, everything ultimately goes to print.

--jimm

-- 
Jimm Wetherbee                 | jimm at wingate.edu
Information Systems Librarian  | Voice: 704-233-8092
E.K. Smith Library             | Fax:   704-233-8254
Wingate University             | http://library.wingate.edu/staff/jmw/
Wingate, NC 28174              | lux et fides

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