Two messages in answer to Jim Minton's Outpost questions.-------Johnnie ------------------------------------------ [log in to unmask] 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?.... ---------------------------------------- [log in to unmask] 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 [log in to unmask]