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Re: New Yorker



I would suggest that a "writer" should be able to write about libraries and archives that this activity is not the exclusive purview of archivists and librarians. I think the problem, here, is not Mr. Baker's occupation, but that he did not amply represent both sides of the story.  Nonetheless, I think that some of his assertions should be considered during the appraisal process. I also think Mr. Baker's reaction was in part due to the fact that few were willing to admit that (in retrospect) that some of those papers should not have been sold or thrown out.  Admitting that some of those papers should not have been sold or dumped, does not take away from the millions of things that the LC and other repositories are doing right.
 
>> rcox@MAIL.SIS.PITT.EDU 07/20 11:32 AM >>>
Terry Abraham: "In addition to decrying the elimination of card catalogs
(because they hold information on use as well as specialized library
knowledge noted by librarians) Nicholas Baker also wrote a piece for the
New Yorker some years back in which he identified and commented on the
books used as backgrounds in sales catalogs, primarily those of Pottery
Barn."  Yes, that article is in his book of essays I mentioned in my
message.

Terry Abraham: "The interesting thing is that all he had to go on were the
fragments of titles on the spines. So he looked them up in an on-line
bibliographical database to identify them. Ironically, he did not seem
conscious of the fact that this would not have been possible in a card
catalog."  Right!  Baker didn't understand WHAT he was writing about.  It
is a very antiquarian, idiosyncratic view of the world.

Barbara Allen: "Does anyone know if Nicholson Baker is a librarian or
historian? I am just wondering where he is coming with his so-called
expert advice regarding management of libraries."  He is a WRITER.  He is
one of those people who thinks because he reads and writes books he is an
expert on libraries.


Richard J. Cox
Professor
Department of Library and Information Sciences
School of Information Sciences
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Voice:  412-624-3245
FAX:    412-648-7001
e-mail: rcox@mail.sis.pitt.edu 
homepage: http://www.lis.pitt.edu/~rjc 

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Heather Willever-Farr
Electronic Records Archivist
American College of Physicians - American Society of Internal Medicine
Philadelphia, PA
hwillever-farr@mail.acponline.org
215-351-2470

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