RE: What libraries can do for community organizations

[Don Skokan <skokan@twsu.edu>]

I think Glen has made some good points.  I also like what Howard has said about "real time refernce."  I work in the reference dept of an academic library and we just went off-campus for all of our databases.  Since are patrons don't need to come into the library to get the information, we may need to find a new way to communicate to them about their needs.

Glenn made the comment about "building a small library-within-the-library on a specific issue."  Generally, I don't think that libraries want to create additional subsets, but rather integrate the information into the regular collection.

Along those lines, I would like to see all government agencies (city, state and federal) try to send a copy of all important documents to the local library.  People don't want to have to visit the individual agency to read/copy the document.  I think these locations can be somewhat intimidating.  Of course local libraries will have to catalog/index this material so that it can be located.

At least from my own perspective, this kind of access to print material is necessary, in addition to information on the web, and will meet the needs of local activists and community organizations - who are the ones that are mostly looking for this type of information.