2 messages, 57 lines:
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Date:         Tue, 9 Mar 1993 14:55:22 -0600
From:         Ann Ercelawn <ERCELAA@VUCTRVAX.BITNET>
Subject:      Re: Re-thinking Serials Librarianship

I certainly share some of Marilyn Geller's concerns about the future of
serials catalogers, particularly as we move into an era of electronic publish-
ing. I am less concerned that we are likely to be replaced by optical scanners
than I am about the possibility that the product that we catalog may
disappear.  Serials cataloging rules were designed to describe and provide
access to a package of information.  If the package is unbundled into
individual articles, and new ways to access and deliver these articles are
designed, the package itself may fade into insignificance.  Systems
people are rapidly moving into territory which we once claimed as our own
by devising powerful new electronic navigational tools  (After all, what
is LCSH, if not a navigational tool?)

I am sure that as a group with analytical abilities and a concern for access
that we will be able to meet the challenges of electronic publishing, but
at this point I am not clear what our role will be.

(And my sincere apologies to SERIALSTers for misdirecting a personal message
this morning--misnavigating, so to speak)

Ann Ercelawn
Serials Cataloger
Vanderbilt University

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Date:         Tue, 9 Mar 1993 08:26:29 -0800
From:         Mitch Turitz <turitz@SFSUVAX1.SFSU.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Re-thinking Serials Librarianship

On Tue, 9 Mar 1993 Marilyn Geller <mgeller@ATHENA.MIT.EDU> wrote:

> As for the future, can a machine really catalogue an IEEE conference?
> Will there be cataloguers a dozen years from now?  Or will we be
> replaced by optical scanners?

Marilyn - I agree with you.  I think that the non-librarian "techies" have
no idea of the complexity of our jobs and think that there will be no need
to catalog things because everything will be scanned into machine-readable
form and that keyword access will replace the online catalog.  (Never mind
the problems of storage and retrieval capability).

This was similar to the arguments 20 years ago when microfiche first
started coming out in large quantities.  People were predicting that paper
books would cease to exist and that everyone would have a microfiche
reader in their homes.

Implementation of these ideas will prove futile and cooler heads will
predominate.  At least that's my prediction.

-- Mitch