Without the help of what catalogers have done and are doing I couldn't
have collected and
cataloged 27.000 free e-books because I am no cataloger and I have no
time in creating
records. What I do is to use the records that I can find in the Swedish
national catalogue and
nowdays what I can find in WorldCat. It takes second to build an
e-record from that. So
I can make copies and in that way build a collection that expands with
one thousand titles
per month.
Google doesn't do that not even Internet Archive. With Shirleys help and
her collegues all
over the world that have created the brain and heart of the library I
can build an open access
collection without knowing anything about cataloging and with speed.
On what shelf do I find the electronic books? Yes in Google Book Search
after going through
145.000 answers or through the library catalogue where you will get one
answer.
As a Swedish librarian I thank you for what your are doing because you
help me to create
the library of tomorrow. Because that library is the catalogue. There
you find a good description
and a good classsification. All these things that always be the heart of
the library.
Jan
PS. Are there anybody else out there trying to build this kind of
library or am I a lonely cowboy?
Shirley Lincicum wrote:
> I just got out of a really frustrating meeting with the director of my
> library. I'm left wondering, does anybody out there (other than
> catalogers) value anything that catalogers do? Or are catalogers the
> main thing holding libraries back in this day and age?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Shirley
>
>
--
De åsikter som framförs här är mina personliga
och inte ett uttryck för Göteborgs universitets-
biblioteks hållning
Opinions expressed here are my own and not
those of the Gothenburg University Library
Jan Szczepanski
Förste bibliotekarie
Goteborgs universitetsbibliotek
Box 222
SE 405 30 Goteborg, SWEDEN
Tel: +46 31 7861164 Fax: +46 31 163797
E-mail: Jan.Szczepanski_at_ub.gu.se
Received on Thu Feb 12 2009 - 03:08:55 EST