on Wed, 19 Sep 2001 David Goodman <dgoodman@PHOENIX.PRINCETON.EDU> wrote:

> Where AH goes wrong is in thinking that such institutions are typical.
> Now, if legislatures funding the tax-supported institutions could be
> convinced to provide stable greatly increased support, and all private
> universities had very large endowments, then certainly a proposal to
> greatly increase library spending would be in order. I agree with AH that
> this would be desirable. I think it's absurd to think it likely. Of course
> we should work for stable increased funding. I would put the likelihood of
> it arriving sufficiently to help the university system as a whole at about
> zero. I don't like to say it, but I think rather that the opposite may
> prove to be the case.

        Actually, I am not speaking of the typical college or
        university. I am concerned primarily with 100 "research
        universities" and others granting advanced degrees calling
        for competence in original investigations. The colleges
        that have inflated their names but which don't bring in
        sponsored research are only kidding themselves. On the
        other hand, those who solicit taxpayer supported, often
        Congressionally earmarked, studies with a huge overhead
        allocation probably cannot deliver excellence without
        excellent resources.

        I hope that clarifies.

        Best wishes,

Albert Henderson
Former Editor, PUBLISHING RESEARCH QUARTERLY 1994-2000
<70244.1532@compuserve.com>