7.0596 Of Catalogues (1/21)
Elaine Brennan (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Sun, 3 Apr 1994 23:46:12 EDT
Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 7, No. 0596. Sunday, 3 Apr 1994.
Date: Fri, 01 Apr 1994 12:48:44 -0500 (EST)
From: JLANCASTER@AMHERST.BITNET
Subject: Of catalogues and books
From: John Lancaster, Amherst College (jlancaster@amherst.edu)
There has been much fuss lately over a tendentious and often silly
article in the latest _New Yorker_ about the computerization of
library catalogues (though I too am dismayed at the loss of much that
could have been saved, with a little forethought and effort, from our
card catalogues).
It might be worth some attention to the much more substantial losses
that have been going on even longer in the name of preservation, i.e.
destruction of the books themselves.
G. T. Tanselle's article in _Common Knowledge_ for Winter 1993 (vol.
2, no. 3, pp. 172-77), "The Latest Forms of Book-Burning,"
succinctly treats that matter, and may be of interest to members of
this list.
John Lancaster | Curator of Special Collections | Amherst College Library
Campus Box 2256 | Amherst College | P.O.Box 5000 | Amherst, MA 01002-5000
Internet: jlancaster@amherst.edu | Tel. 413-542-2299 | Fax 413-542-2662