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A L-O-N-G time ago, when I was a student (and Alberta and HelenJane
can attest to the fact that I once was a student, amongst others),
I had a part-time job at the Library of Congress in the Map Division.
 
One of the tasks I had (being a non-librarian and geography undergrad)
was to prepare the first iterations for US street maps for Mr. Buffum
(Everybody remember him ?) to review.  In the course of time, he and I
had a discussion about accuracy, speed, etc., and he said a trained
librarian (most of you guys out there) should be able to do about
2 to 3 complex items per hour (all things included).
 
So, what this all means is:  Technology has not changed the speed at
which things happen in cataloging (at least from the perspective of
the information I know about).  Not only that, you also have to learn
all that computer stuff that neither he nor I had to know.  This means
that the technology is not making people more productive (the primary
reason I think technology should be used in jobs).  The good news (I
think) is that it's also not making them less productive.
 
It's almost as depressing as Punxatawney Phil's seeing his shadow this
morning (sorry about that for you folks in the areas with continental
climates). While we're on the subject of climates, I hope those of you
who will be coming this way soon will have a good time in our fair
city, Los Angeles, C.A.  We will make every effort NOT to have a shakin'
good time for you.......  ;-)
 
virginia