Sounds like the text Mr. Austin shared was written by
a budget officer who believes librarians can pay for
groceries with the "genuine interest" they receive
from library patrons. [I could possibly understand the
confusion over the various definitions of ?interest?].
I don't blame any institutions for trying to get as
much productivity for their library dollar as
possible, but they could ultimately be hurting
themselves the most by scaring off the people with the
best library skills in favor of a staff that will do
better in inter-departmental sports events.
As for the 40 pound lifting requirement, I find that a
legal size box filled with coated-stock paper weighs
in at around 40 pounds. I haven't pulled my Gutenberg
Bible volumes from the vault yet to see how much each
of them weighs - does any one already know the answer
to this to save me the trouble?
Fortunately this problem will be self limiting. Thanks
to the digital age, word processing and emails
especially, there will be no new paper based archives;
no more sheaves of holographic text or typescripts
with hand written emendations. Manuscript rooms (soon
to be totally dust free) will be filled with the hard
drives (none more than four pounds in weight) from
authors' computers so that students will be able to
study the GENUINE original drafts of future important
literature (and not have to depend solely on perfect
CD copies weighing just a few ounces). As soon as the
cuneiforms are all scanned we will be able to unload
literally tons of weight from the storage room.
Have to go. If I don?t carry in the 40 pound box of
unpublished Ezra Pound correspondence I saw on the
curb this morning outside Mrs. Rudge's old place the
recycle truck will get it. Let's hope I?m still strong
enough to lift it.
C.J. Scheiner
*************
--- Gabriel Austin <gabrielaustin@EARTHLINK.NET>
quoted:
[Librarians]
are a race apart, untrammelled by false distinctions
of creed, color, or national origin. Big and small,
male and female, young and old, they share a sense of
dedication. In return for their favor, they ask only a
genuine interest in what they have to offer; once
assured of this, they give of themselves without
stint".
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