Mr. Henderson makes some good points in his arguments, but I have a lot of difficulty in accepting his parting shots at libraries.
It is true that many universities underfund their libraries. It is also true that "library spending [is] divorced unfairly from R&D budgeting". But that is hardly the libraries' fault. There is something incongruent (and rather unfair) in the arguments that connect the lack of resources with those suffering from them. In the case of libraries they are not connected, and often despite their best efforts librarians just don't have enough political clout to effect change. Imagine the poor and hungry asking for help and we telling them: Well, too bad if you are poor; go ahead and starve to death. Such an attitude doesn't wash. Albert N. Tabah École de bibliothéconomie et des sciences de l'information Université de Montréal CP 6128, Succ. Centre-Ville Montréal, Québec, Canada H3C 3J7 [email protected]
