Responses to LC Working Group report?

  I've been looking at some of the LC group's report and am struck by some of the rhetoric...not word-for-word, but the tone. It's almost deja vu all over again. Maybe I just don't understand the report.

  "The bibliographic universe today includes an enormous variety of materials: published materials that are purchased by libraries; materials that libraries license for user access; digital materials on public networks; and materials that are unique to an individual library. It is not uncommon that these disparate materials are described and managed through different processes, and are offered separately for user access. Users would be better served if access to these materials were provided in the context of a unified philosophy of bibliographic control." (p7, second paragraph).


  My apologies if I sound overly cynical, but weren't people expressing similar sentiments 5-10 years ago? Maybe they weren't specifically saying "future of bibliograhic control", but...

  And the first paragraph of the intro concludes: "Libraries must continue the transition to this future without delay in order to retain their relevance as information providers." Is that relevance slipping away faster than we think?

  I’ve participated in library-related online discussion groups for 18 years. Since day one, there’s been a recurring theme that librarians will play an important role in the information age. With the ever-increasing volume of information available on the Internet and the Web, librarians will be needed to play the gatekeeper/organizer/whatever role to help people find exactly what they need from a myriad of possible choices. After 18 years, people continue to make this assertion. I know that there have been a number of library projects that have made good inroads into organizing what’s out there. But I just get the feeling that a lot of us are standing on the platform waiting for a train that left the station 5-10 years ago.

  Bernie Sloan


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