Gutenberg9443@aol.com wrote:
... Go forward, not back.
Well said, Anne, and thank you for your many salient points. One thing jumped out at me:
.... But often the student is asking for a book that is still in copyright, and I have to explain that one has to go to a REAL library for that book.
I believe that PG now has the right to be called a library -- even a REAL library. It fulfills the major criteria for a library: it has a large collection of books, and it has a catalog (online) through which patrons may locate items in the collection. True, there are deficiencies, but you'll find similar in any library -- even the Library of Congress is somewhat less than perfect. ;-) My own library, at the University of Adelaide, still has tens of thousands of brief catalogue records (out of 1.5M) -- we're cleaning them up as funds permit, but its a twenty year project. We're all just doing the best we can with the resources available, which is all anyone can ask. So perhaps we should start referring to "The Project Gutenberg Library" instead of simply "Project Gutenberg"? Steve -- Stephen Thomas, Senior Systems Analyst, University of Adelaide Library UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE SA 5005 AUSTRALIA Phone: +61 8 830 35190 Fax: +61 8 830 34369 Email: stephen.thomas@adelaide.edu.au URL: http://staff.library.adelaide.edu.au/~sthomas/ CRICOS Provider Number 00123M ----------------------------------------------------------- This email message is intended only for the addressee(s) and contains information that may be confidential and/or copyright. If you are not the intended recipient please notify the sender by reply email and immediately delete this email. Use, disclosure or reproduction of this email by anyone other than the intended recipient(s) is strictly prohibited. No representation is made that this email or any attachments are free of viruses. Virus scanning is recommended and is the responsibility of the recipient.