Two messages in answer to Jim Minton's Outpost questions.-------Johnnie
 
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      Mon Sep 13 17:36:11 EDT 1993
         Re: Map Library "outpost" In Main Library
 
 
I agree with Johnnie's approach. Have a dumb terminal, with menu driven
goodies available, maybe even a sexy show & tell introduction to what is
possible. But don't make a lot possible without having to come to the Map Room
for training. Make sure  all the screens on the remote terminal, if you can do
this, or anything that gets printed out, has the Map Room address, phone,
logo, on it--so that every thing about the system points back to the Map Room
and its curator as the source.  Down the road though, look forward to, and be
optimistic about it, all kinds of mapstuff on the LAN. Just be proactive about
it, and people will still come to you as the map guru on campus. Try to
develop guidelines, design helps, etc. out of the Map Room, or in conjunction
with the cartolab folk on campus. I get the feeling you are still developing
the Map Room on campus at UT, so this is an opportunity for promotion. But
down the road, as I said above, all this stuff will be userfriendly, and
accessible, and anyone on campus will beable to create maps at will. The bad
thing is, there will be lots of garbage. The good thing is, according to
popular wisdom, most people are indifferent to, dislike, or ignore maps, so
maybe there won't be too much garbage to worry about...I love stream of
consciousness remarks, don't you?....
 
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      Tue Sep 14 10:09:43 EDT 1993
         Re: MAP LIBRARY "OUTPOST" IN MAIN LIBRARY
 
Jim,
While I do not have a definate answer for you, I do have some thoughts on
the situation.
--Is this another case of librarians worried about losing or gaining
control in some sort of power struggle?  Not to be so cynical, but
are there good intensions behind the proposal?
--One option might be to make sure that the knowledge of how to use
such a system lies only at the map library--this is a way to control things.
--Who and for what purpose would people use this set-up?  Why does it have
to be in the main library?  If people are that interested in maps, why can't
they come to you?  Is it a problem of limited map room hours, etc.?
--Do you think it would be possible to increase your number of users by
making the new system a great PR thing?  Do some heavy advertising at the
station?
 
--Christopher JJ Thiry--yes, I finally got a job in maps
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