Eric Lease Morgan wrote:
> Despite some of the following comments, I still believe we need to
> think harder about collections when it comes to this "'next
> generation' library thing":
> ...
>
> IMHO, collections without services are useless, and services without
> collections are empty. A library needs both collections AND services
> in order to practice librarianship.
Yes, you need stuff, and something that you do with stuff. But I don't
think we have a "collection" in the same sense as we did when
"collection" meant "things that the library owns." The concept of
collection to me always implies selection and some definition of
appropriateness. It doesn't necessarily imply ownership.
In our virtual and networked world, "collection" might be closer to the
term "bibliography" -- that is, an organized group of items related to a
particular topic or investigation, for a particular group of users,
whether the library owns them or not. Because it's hard to put a firm
line around what is or isn't accessible to a user (considering ILL, and
that new things appear on the net every minute) it makes more sense to
organize information than to organize items.
What the library "collects" may in the future be exhibited as a "best of
...." or "basic readings in...." type of organization of information
resources. This is actually a much harder task than purchasing a select
set of items within your budget, because it requires you to cover a
wider range of information sources. As for access, I think that the
access issues are becoming less pressing as more materials are added to
a shared store of digital copies. It doesn't mean that those materials
are "open access" -- but that libraries are able to provide access now
to a great wealth of materials that didn't used to be available beyond
the few owning institutions. If we don't create our "collection" out of
that vast store, then we are cheating our users.
kc
--
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Karen Coyle / Digital Library Consultant
kcoyle@kcoyle.net http://www.kcoyle.net
ph.: 510-540-7596
fx.: 510-848-3913
mo.: 510-435-8234
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Received on Mon Mar 19 2007 - 18:22:43 EDT