I wanted to clarify what I said at the end. It's not that Kristin
shouldn't solve that problem she described if she has a solution for it.
Because of course we're not here to perpetuate our jobs via
inefficiencies, but to help people find information.
But I do think the "seamless" issue has broader ramifications. If you
eliminate "seams," there's a danger you'll lose something else, too. I
think this relates to what I see as a kind of general malaise in the
library field. Librarians are too in awe of computers and software
developers and not proud enough of the great systems they've created. So
there's too much of a tendency to think that some kind of software will
be able to do anything. If we can just get the right software, all the
problems of information discovery will go away.
I personally think that people in the days of the card catalog knew
almost as much about the organization of information as we do. They just
didn't have one tool we have. It's a great tool, but we shouldn't think
of it as being a lot more than that.
I'll get off my soapbox now.
--Ted Gemberling
Not an official statement of the UAB Lister Hill Library
Received on Wed May 09 2007 - 11:51:43 EDT