Hank Young writes:
>I question that it is possible to create a system that will
>give good results for more than 30% of the population without
>educating them in how to use the tool.
What are "good results" and who determines them? Where does the 30%
come from? What do assumptions about an unknown proportion of the
Spanish-speaking population of southern California ("the writer
mentioned some of the strongest supporters were Hispanics" is vague - it
seems to me that some of the strongest supporters of bilingual education
are also Hispanics, the biases of the writer are not specified, there is
no data provided to support this, etc.) add to this discussion other
than something along the lines of some people like orange juice and some
people like grape juice?
State of the art in the Internet world - good results are demonstrated
by a level of use (by users) that out competes other systems providing
the same service. In the library world, good results are mostly
demonstrated by vendor systems that provide what librarians ask for on
behalf of users who have little or no choices or involvement, or by
system designers who develop systems on behalf of users with varying
perspectives on "users". Both approaches are user-centered - we all
care about "users" (as vast and diverse as that term encompasses).
Being a third-way person by nature, I'd say that real competition (with
a user motive, not a profit motive) would be helpful for patrons in the
library world- that is the ability for users to choose to use the local
bibliographic systems or an alternatives.
Allen
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Next generation catalogs for libraries
>[mailto:NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu] On Behalf Of Hank Young
>Sent: Friday, May 04, 2007 9:57 AM
>To: NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu
>Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] Yes but
>
>Bravo!
>
>I question that it is possible to create a system that will
>give good results for more than 30% of the population without
>educating them in how to use the tool. Many librarians
>consider what they do to be educational by its nature.
>
> - Hank Young
>University of Florida
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Next generation catalogs for libraries
>[mailto:NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Ted P Gemberling
>Sent: Friday, May 04, 2007 12:39 PM
>To: NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU
>Subject: [NGC4LIB] Yes but
>
>I hate to make a "yes but" point, but I think this other
>perspective might be worth considering. I believe library
>systems have to be user-centered (accessible), adjusted to the
>needs of users. But remember that users have to adjust
>themselves to information, too. That is part of learning.
>
><snip>
>
> --Ted Gemberling, UAB Lister Hill Library, Birmingham, Ala.
>
Received on Fri May 04 2007 - 11:33:28 EDT