Crawford, 'It Takes All Kinds', LITA Newsletter v15n01
URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/lita/lita-v15n01-crawford-it

V15N1.EDITOR LITANEWS
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Letter from the Editor
Walt Crawford


It Takes All Kinds

OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS, I've had the privilege of speaking at
several different state library association conferences as well as
some other conferences and meetings. In most cases, I've been able to
attend the rest of the conference--listening to programs, going to the
exhibits, talking to people in the hallways and at receptions. The
experiences have helped to keep me aware of the wonderful diversity of
America's libraries and librarians.

   Midwinter and Annual aren't always the best places to meet new
people. Approximately 2,000 to 2,500 LITA members are at each national
gathering, and that's too many folks to talk to in the few hours each
day that aren't taken up with meetings.

   The state and regional gatherings I've attended have had anywhere
from a hundred to a thousand people--and, of course, I haven't had
committee meetings to attend. It's possible to talk to school
librarians (in states that still care about school libraries), find
out about innovative automation consortia pulling together small
public and academic libraries, and generally get to know more about
what librarians and libraries are actually doing and thinking about
these days. Many of these plans and projects are "too small" to show up
in the library press, but they matter to the users of the
libraries, and it's enlightening to hear about them from the people
involved.

   To some, effective use of library information technology means
OHIOLINK and Eureka, the MELVYL system and the American Memory
Project. But it also means a handful of small public and community
college libraries getting together to produce a union catalog on
CD-ROM and to provide mutual borrowing privileges. It also means
school and small public libraries providing effective online catalogs
through PC-based and Macintosh-based systems. It also means cobbling
together donated "obsolete" personal computers in an underfunded
library, in a depressed area, to help people become comfortable with
computers and to enable them to write job application letters and
resumes.

   It takes all kinds. I've been lucky to experience the reality of
that statement, and I hope to have more such opportunities in the
future. These have been learning experiences for me and quite
enjoyable ones; I hope they continue.