Ted,
Unless LibraryLand intends to become the arbiters of culture again (our version of "in loco parentis"), we are in no position to tell people - the taxpayers - what they "need." The best we can do is remind people what libraries offer that no one else does. Come to think of it, that'd be a fair use of the entirety of ALA's budget for a year. Or more.
"Need" didn't prevent a county public library system in Oregon from closing due to lack of a Federal logging subsidy in lieu of local property taxes in the last month. Those good folks did not want a library. They did not want to pay for it. The Federal bucks dried up and there you are.
We probably disagree less than it appears on needs vs. wants.
As for a tangible inventory of library holdings, raise your hand if you work in or know of a library that still keeps a shelf list, though it may not be up-to-date. I did, years ago. I still hear stories of libraries with staff lounges and break rooms (hopefully not the restrooms) where the shelf list sits because people are afraid to scrap it. If that medical library has an ILS worth a darn, they can get a heavy-duty printer, some tractor feed 3 x 5 card stock, and print themselves a catalog again, or a shelf list. Now there's a dirty library secret - how many libraries secretly maintain a card catalog or a shelf list? Nicholson Baker will be pleased.
Mark Andrews
-----Original Message-----
From: Next generation catalogs for libraries on behalf of Ted P Gemberling
Sent: Thu 5/31/2007 11:37 AM
To: NGC4LIB_at_listserv.nd.edu
Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] The Situation We're In (was Re: [NGC4LIB] Authority maintenance)
Mark Andrews wrote:
"The kind of feedback Burke provides is PRICELESS and should be cultivated, encouraged, and incorporated into our thinking, planning and acting. Remember, people don't have libraries and librarians because they NEED them. They have libraries and librarians because they WANT
them. When the "want" stops we go away. What's true for our vendors is, I'm afraid, also true of us."
Well, they both need them and want them. They may not think they want them for awhile and then realize they need them. I just talked to a coworker yesterday about a small medical library she worked in. Her former boss has been advised to get rid of their old card catalog, because card catalogs are passé. But my coworker worries that that is actually the only permanent record they have of their resources. They have an in-house electronic system that is questionable for its
reliability, maintained by a couple of technicians who could leave any day, and she worries that if they did or lost interest in maintaining it, the electronic data could be lost. I agreed with her that it's better to err on the side of caution. So I think "need" somewhat takes precedence over "want." "Want" is pretty ephemeral, and "need" is deeper and longer lasting.
-- Ted Gemberling
Received on Thu May 31 2007 - 19:14:57 EDT