Rinne, Nathan (ESC) <RinneN_at_district279.org> wrote:
> I look forward to more jousting between you and James
We'll see what I find time for; I'm moving jobs *and* countries with a
wife and three little children, so I'll be ... um, slightly busy. :)
> OK, real quick. You said:
>
> "May I remind our good readers of this list of *why* people search for
> things by author, title and subject? It's because we told them to do so.
> It's because that's how we've done our systems, so for them to find
> stuff in our collection, that's the way they have to do it."
>
> Actually, I don't think this is true. [...] how much of
> this was Cutter dictating to people "how to
> do something", and how much of it is simply him creating explicit,
> classified structure that enabled people to accomplish the either
> implicit or explicit goals that they came to him with?
I don't think user-centered design in 1875 can in any way or form be
said to hold the key to the methodology we use 130 years later,
especially given the amazing amount of information, history and people
that's passed since, and given all the inventions and technology that
has passed.
In other words, I don't believe for a second that what the library did
130 years ago in any way should be the basis for how the future should
be done. 130 years ago, little less *30* years ago, or even 10 years
ago!! I should remind people here that the basis for the library is to
collect especially those things in the domain of human knowledge and
understanding, and both of those things are no longer only found in
books anymore; eBooks, blogs, chats, online articles, discussion
boards, mailing-lists, etc, etc, etc. The pamphlets, the emphermas and
the art of letter writing are gone, and as sad as that might be,
people have adopted to computers and networks like nothing else in
history. This has taken less than 20 years, so again I feel I must
emphazise that our rather old methodologies and thinking about "books"
and especially about searching doesn't cut it by a looooooong shot.
But of course, Casey could speak for himself, I'm sure. :)
Alex
--
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Project Wrangler, SOA, Information Alchemist, UX, RESTafarian, Topic Maps
------------------------------------------ http://shelter.nu/blog/ --------
Received on Sat Jan 05 2008 - 15:23:48 EST