> The danger of ignoring CS is a point worth noting and remembering.
The opposite case of CS ignoring the experience of library science is just
as prevalent. The level of animosity can be quite high among these groups. I
can relate what has happened several times to me:
1) The traditional catalogers and librarians are ignored during the
creation/installation of a new automatic indexing system. This may be
because they chose to opt out of the process because they did not want
anything to do with it, and/or because their concerns are not taken
seriously by the CS people.
2) The new system is demonstrated to the public. The CS people are very
excited and happy about it. The traditional librarians begin to ask lots of
questions--very good questions--that the CS people can't handle. The
demonstration descends into chaos and name-calling.
3) Nothing really happens except everybody gets mad at one another.
The point is: everybody is at fault here, and I include myself. At one
institution I worked for, you almost couldn't get the two groups into the
same room together, and I took it on myself to try to bring them together a
bit. I think I succeeded to an extent.
I believe that the people involved in the creation of a new item (be it an
automatic indexing system, a new automobile, a television set) *absolutely
cannot be the ones to consider something a success.* Of course they
will--it's their creation! They aren't about to say, "This is the worst
thing I've seen in my life!"
Success also can't be determined on whether the users are "happy" either,
because they don't understand things. I may be happy with my doctor and
think he is fabulous, but in reality he is a quack and I just didn't know
it. My users are happy with the "wwi" search in Google until I point out
what they are missing, then they aren't so happy anymore. Pointing these
things out to the developers can make you a lot of enemies however.
To decide if a single search is successful or unsuccessful can take some
time, and a lot of knowledge. So, this is why I am extremely skeptical when
somebody says that something is successful. I have seen lots of impressive
papers written on the topic, replete with graphs and mathematical formulae.
But personally, I don't care about the theory but in the results. This must
be determined by a disinterested group of experts after a great deal of
research.
I still say that the old standards of finding resources *consistently and
reliably* by its authors, titles, and subjects is still what most people
want. When this can be proven to be done--using scientific methods of expert
analysis, control groups, and so on--then I will be convinced.
James Weinheimer j.weinheimer_at_aur.edu
Director of Library and Information Services
The American University of Rome
via Pietro Roselli, 4
00153 Rome, Italy
voice- 011 39 06 58330919 ext. 327
fax-011 39 06 58330992
Received on Fri Aug 31 2007 - 04:26:02 EDT