On 9/2/07, Weinheimer Jim <j.weinheimer_at_aur.edu> wrote:
...
> This is what the LIS community can learn from CS.
...
> There are many other things CS can learn from LIS.
I think the first one got back to front. In any ways, I don't think
anyone on this list have ever questioned what the LIS people *have*
done, in fact it's been stated over and over the wonderfulness of our
legacy. The question is what they're doing right now apart from
maintaining the status quo, what the high-end research is up to, what
our current thinking is, and what our direction should be like. What
are the leaders driving at, and, when it comes down to it, will any of
it save the librarian world if you agree it needs saving? (And by
"saving" we're talking about both providing users with what they
want/need, *and* making libraries relevant to a future without being
labeled as just another archiving institution. Unless, of course, that
is the answer.)
...
> At a certain level, the catalog can answer that kind of question, or at
> least it should. for the Dostoyevsky, if there were a book about that topic,
> and the cataloger did the job right, you would be able to do it.
Hmm, what does that mean, if the cataloger did the job right? What
does it mean to do it *right*? We cannot possibly foresee every
question to every context of an item, can we?
> The second
> could be done probably right now with good searching.
Do you mean librarians doing the searching for them, or the mum in question?
> I am convinced that if users understand concept searching,
> they will demand it, if they demand it, it will be done.
Doesn't Google already provide much of this? And aren't people already
wanting us to be more like Google (in terms of better searching)?
(People, not librarians, mind you)
> Users are good at finding funny videos on youtube, but when they
> try to do something serious, they are completely lost, and .... they know
> it.
Hmm, not sure I follow this one. Why are they lost? Because they suck,
or because the tools they use suck? I'm having a lot of "fun" lately
helping primary school kids use their local library / catalog, and
you're right in that they're lost in an almost unusable library
catalog. :)
Alex
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Received on Mon Sep 03 2007 - 07:41:37 EDT