Quick survey on library automation lab in LIS schools
Charles Hildreth
Hong Xu wrote:
> Summary of responses:
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> Out of the eight responses received, no school reported having a lab dedicated
> exclusively to library automation.
>
> One respondent said that she is working on a proposal for such a lab, but she
> has not found any vendor who is eager to share a free installation.
>
> H. Xu
> Assistant Professor
> School of Information Sciences
> Univ. of Pittsburgh
Colleagues (and system vendors?):
Too bad! Seems like a great idea for an imaginative, caring, library
system vendor. ;-) Such a learning, development, testing lab would
be a great opportunity for all parties (students/new professionals, faculty,
and system design staff). Not only system equipment and functions could
be tested, but system administration and training functions could be
beta-tested. Students interested in library systems and networking careers
could learn in a "real" environment. It would probably cost the vendors
(Innovative, DRA, VTLS, Ameritech, etc.) less to set up and support such a
learning and development lab than a year's conference exhibition costs.
I think this would be a win-win-win-win situation for all concerned.
(Maybe it is time for a 'W4'.) To anticipate objections from purists who
might suggest it is not a good idea for academia to consort with
commercial vendors, let us keep in mind the presence in our schools
of firms like OCLC, Dialog, and H.W. Wilson, just to name a few.
--
Charles R. Hildreth, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Palmer School of Library and Information Science
Long Island University, C.W. Post Campus
720 Northern Blvd.
Brookville, NY 11548-1300
(516) 299-2178
Fax: (516) 299-4168
email: hild...@liu.edu
Web: http://phoenix.liunet.edu/~hildreth