[Publib] (no subject)

[Thomas J. Hennen Jr.]

Full disclosure: in my day job I am a librarian.  I am also a library
vendor.  

 

I will soon (in fact tomorrow) use this list to publicize my latest vendor
activity: haplr-index.com.  

 

Back in 1997, I started to post things on PUBLIB.  For a long while I wrote
as datcalmguy, an affectation I both embrace and reject.  

 

Further full disclosure: I stopped posting to PUBLIB because I could no
longer tolerate the endless repetitions that flow from its subscriber's
unwillingness to edit their posts in such a way as to keep me from reading
endless repetitions of the posts of others.  

 

Somewhere along the way, Karen asked me (and Michael Golrick among others)
to help move PUBLIB from the Sunsite to the WebJunction site.  I agreed.  

 

We had a number of e-mail discussions and then met at an ALA conference to
seal the deal.  It happened and we did it.  We transferred PUBLIB to
different server.  No harm, no foul.  Though we went over to what some might
have thought the dark side - a vendor, the PUBLIB conversation continued,
thankfully.    

 

Karen went from public librarian to Internet Librarian (twice over with CA
and American Libraries) to Public Library Floridian to Open Sourcier.  Sarah
stayed in place and provided context and reference to the list.  A bit of
the Narcissus and Goldmund doncha know?

 

Throughout my time as a regular contributor (as Datcalmguy) and as my time
as a regular reader, I have watched both Sarah and Karen go about their
duties as list administrators with growing admiration.  

 

They have tried to get people to keep their responses to the task at hand
without repeating what has already been said - again and again.  With each
foray they have succeeded, only to see a new set (or generation) of
backsliders go there yet again and again...  They do so with such grace,
patience, and good will that they should be declared library saints (vendor
or the rest of us).  I, for one, will, and do, nominate them so.   

 

The Vendors and librarians should be friends. 

 

Tom, still and of another time, datcalmguy 

 

Haplr-index.com 

 

Thomas J. Hennen Jr. 

6014 Spring Street

Racine, WI   53406

Voice: 262-886-1625

e-mail: thennen at haplr-index.com

 

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