DANTE@EDWARDS-2060.ARPA (Mike Dante) (03/30/88)
Re: Computer Literacy - I think: Somewhat over a year and a half ago, our local public library took out the card catalog and put in a half dozen computer terminals. These are not general purpose terminals but operate via a keypad. Press a key to select "Subject", a second if you want "Author". Then use arrow keys to scroll through an abbreviated list to an entry closest to what you want, push a button marked "Select" to get an expanded list, scroll again and select again to get the complete list. On the complete list, when you press select you are presented with a display of an expanded library card. At this point you have instructions on the screen that you are to copy down the catalog number and go to the one hardcopy card catalog left, the shelf list, to see if the local branch has the book. (I forgot to mention that the electronic catalog is for the entire Los Angeles Public Library system!) If the book is not in the local library, you then go for help in ordering the book from wherever it is. The electronic catalog is very easy to use if you are looking for a specific item but I don't find it quite so convenient for browsing. But the real drawback is the difficulty in getting a terminal. I don't ever remember even having to share the catalog, much less wait for a drawer, at the public library here when they had cards. Now I have never seen more than one terminal free, and there is usually a wait of 10 minutes to half an hour to get to a terminal. The other day I was in a hurry and found myself wishing they would put the old card catalogs back in. :-) Granted that library patron are already pre-selected. But surely not for <<computer>> literacy. Yet the computer terminals are much more popular than the old card catalogs were. I didn't ask the librarians but my impression is that no one was complaining about the terminals. Perhaps the problem with computer literacy is not with the computers but the way we expect the public to use them. The library catalog seems to me like one way that works too well. Mike P.S. One further observation. Almost no one was using the shelf list!