I like that You are brutally honest, which I find refreshing.
Of course we can't collect everything, that woul be absurd even for LoC
and even
more for an university library in a small country in Scandinavia. But
collect everything
of note is not impossible with the help of my friends all over the world
and from these
books You could select the "cream of the crop".
If Guggenheim musuem in New York can select the "creasm of the crop" why
couldn'
I? I have been into the selection business for more than twentyfive
years and developed
a nose for quality.
A young Frenchman, Gabriel Naudé has written a little book about
building a library
collection. Read it because nothing has changed since then.
Jan
Alexander Johannesen wrote:
> On 10/19/07, Stephens, Owen <o.stephens_at_imperial.ac.uk> wrote:
>
>> However, I also think it is worth examining the idea of 'selection'
>> in the context of large amounts of digital material being available.
>>
>
> Indeed, it needs scrutiny. Do we think for a second as the world
> information grows exponentially - and the number of librarians do not
> - that we're capable of selecting even the thinnest cream of the crop?
>
>
>> There is clearly a challenge here - as more material is either born
>> digital, or digitised, does the pre-selection model still apply, or
>> is post-selection going to become the norm? If the latter, what does
>> it mean for libraries?
>>
>
> I'll be brutally honest here ; there is no way that libraries can hope
> to a) collect everything (too much), b) collect everything of note
> (too hard; needs more reference librarians), or c) collect only the
> cream of the crop (too crazy!). Further, there is no way that
> libraries can a) give all people what they want (we can't please all),
> b) give some people what they want (we may not have all they want), or
> c) anyone what they want (we don't have it all, and all knowledge does
> not come in printed form).
>
> As we can only make whopping big assumptions about what people might
> want or need, I think it's fair to say that the only thing we can do
> which we could do really well, is to do what we *want* to do. I no
> longer believe that libraries should worry too much about their
> customers needs, and I say this *because* knowledge has broken out of
> the print format we're still stuck in. (If we kicked ass in the
> electronic information arena [and no, that does not include having an
> electronic database of print material], then sure, let's talk about
> handling the user experience ...)
>
> I've said it before and I'll say it again ; the printed material are
> no longer the main source of knowledge transfer between humans. Yes,
> printed stuff is still here and will be for some time (especially in
> literature and discourse), but in the sense of you and me getting
> educated or more knowledgeable the transfer is no longer held in
> print; it's in electronic form.
>
>
> Alex
> --
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Project Wrangler, SOA, Information Alchemist, UX, RESTafarian, Topic Maps
> ------------------------------------------ http://shelter.nu/blog/ --------
>
--
Jan Szczepanski
Förste bibliotekarie
Goteborgs universitetsbibliotek
Box 222
SE 405 30 Goteborg, SWEDEN
Tel: +46 31 773 1164 Fax: +46 31 163797
E-mail: Jan.Szczepanski_at_ub.gu.se
Received on Mon Oct 22 2007 - 09:11:07 EDT