While not touching on library catalogs, per se, I thought this recent "Inside Higher Ed" essay by Steven Bell touches on some of the issues we have been discussing on this list:
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2009/02/17/bell
The concluding paragraph reads:
"Put simply, the library portal as we know it today is unsustainable. It, along with a host of other indicators such as declines in reference questions and shifts from print to e-resources, signals that for academic libraries a 'let’s just keep doing business as usual' mentality is a sure path to obsolescence. If academic librarians fail to grasp the urgency of needed changes to their portals it is quite possible we will read in a future article something along the lines of 'Academic librarians thought they were in the information gateway business, but they were really in the learning and scholarly productivity business. They just didn’t recognize it.'"
Bernie Sloan
Sora Associates
Bloomington, IN
Received on Wed Feb 18 2009 - 15:45:11 EST