I was reminded today by a little bird that I have been badly neglecting FRL, what with my hoity-toity big job and all. But today on the way back from a meeting with the folks at our statewide-automation-system-what-runs-our-catalog, I thought to myself, “Self, I have a post that I can’t do over at my hoity-toity blog.”
Here ’tis: what if we simply stopped trying to upgrade our ILS’s and put the time and effort and cold cash into digitization?
Yes, I know, we can’t think that way day in and day out. We’re all on the treadmill, run run run, fix this problem, fix that problem, run run run… but if you stand back you want to shout “Where’s the beef?” Or at the very least ask mildly, “Where’s the ROI?”
Posted on this day, other years:
- Gulp - 2007
- Google's New Library Newsletter Yields some Secret Sauce - 2005
- Blogging and Ethics, Part 4: Don't Stand So Close To Me - 2004
- Day Three of the Hostage Crisis - 2003
- Thunderbird - 2003
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7 Comments
Just imagine the benefits. Once everything is digitized, full-text search becomes a snap! Cataloging becomes less about the exact and more about the abstract – what is the work REALLY about that might not be most effectively captured by full text? Also, if it is digital, we can get rid of all the inventory control stuff that we struggle with so much. I still say, get a good search interface and then store the books with UPS of FedEx. They know how to manage a massive, shifting interface of packages.
Yup, at some stage we all have to stop and smell the roses!
Why are most of us chasing our tails?
We opted for a country lifestyle 30 years ago and it’s worked well. Have a look at http://www.freeranger.com.au
Interesting idea. Of course search engines would have to get a lot smarter, or we’d risk turning our “catalog” into Google in the worst sense of the word (4 million hits, the link you need on page 71 of the search results). But of course we can count on improvements over time.
What a concept.
Not digitization. Publishing.
Hmmm…. Stop upgrading ILSes, I can see in a few years. Make digital content. Yes. I want to think more about this.
Dorothea, I get your point, but even if we set the bar very, very low, we’d kinda be publishing anyway. Though would you say Google is publishing?
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