Sunday, September 25, 2005

Managing the Small World

I can't manage Iran or Afghanistan. I can't even manage ARL or CNI. All I can manage is a pretty small sphere at OCLC. OK, a really small sphere.

What are our spheres of influence? Where can we effectively orchestrate change?

I think blunt answers to these questions are needed. There are many Really Big Issues related to librarianship but as I mull them over (pushed this way by debating with George over the digital divide) I am not sure how many we can operate in.

It seems clear that the message of what a public good the library can be has kinda sunk.....golly, folks would rather pay for the fire department?

So, where else can we live as public entities and how do we garner public support?

1 comment:

Alice said...

Interesting Alane. I've just unearthed the box that contained my loaned (aka "your") copy of Better Together. Your post completely fits in the vein of willingness to create both bridging and bonding social capital.