.
The paperless library really IS a good idea.  It is just an idea whose time
may not yet have come.  Online catalogs are inherently better than card
catalogs for a number of reasons - not the least of which is that they can
be used by people from their homes and offices.  Online text is in its most
usable form.
 
What is NOT a good idea is the librarianless library.  Admittedly, the idea
might have more credibility coming from a non-librarian but...  Anyway, the
reason the paperless library is a good idea is because all information
loses when it goes from paper to electronic form is paper (and a little
ink.)  The value of a librarian is not his/her skill in manipulating paper
objects, it is in manipulating information - irrespective of the form it
takes.  An administrator who thinks he/she can substitute the Internet for
a librarian has not been properly educated by his/her librarian.
 
Millard Johnson  INCOLSA
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