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April Carlucci refers to a particular issue that either plagues or
benefits a variety of users and is perhaps more endemic to those in the
United States but it seems to be occuring certainly in Canada with some
regularity and in various European countries.
 
First, there are regional libraries and then there are regional GPO
depository libraries which ALL should have access to the WEB and at least
be able to access and download simple text files such as New Publications
of the U.S. Geological Survey. Most of the 1,000+ GPO depositories
throughout the United States have been given suggested minimum
requirements in order to deal with electronic publications and the
increasing array of spatial and cartographic data that will be, and is,
being distributed in this way.
 
Second, this is something one can either complain about or adapt to. USGS
funding and staffing has been shredded and other federal agencies can
provide their own lamentable stories. Much of the depository library
community, although not all, have been asking for digital data because of
its ease to store and provide quick and efficient access to a large amount
of data.
 
Third, and finally, this is a trend that will continue unabated one might
predict as more cartographic and spatial data is created in digital format
and will probably never be printed unless we, or other producers/users,
choose to do so. These are interesting times and times when we will be
seriously challenged to provide different types of information to our
users.
 
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David A. Cobb                           Tel (617) 495-2417
Harvard Map Collection                  FAX (617) 496-0440
Harvard University                      E-Mail: [log in to unmask]
Cambridge, MA 02138
                        VE * RI * TAS
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