Thanks, Ted, for your helpful comments. Perhaps the problem is mine, but I find myself less disturbed by the idea that someone would attempt to use the name "Dewey" and it's attendant classification system for other than direct library purposes, than I am by the idea that a classification system should be proprietary (if that is the correct term) at all. It seems to me that if there are villains in this story, it would not be the hotel's owners, though I have no illusions about their motives involving anything but the bottom line. It seems to me that the true villains in this story are those who would attempt to buy and sell the rights to a name for something that we should hold in common as though it were the label on a box of breakfast cereal or a can of beans. I think when we do that we demean our profession, for, no matter what we publicly say are our motives, I believe that others will perceive our real message to be that we are selling a product rather than offering a service for the good of the community. I admit that this allows for the possibility that someone else might do just that with the tools we offer, but I believe we do ourselves more damage by attempting to defend ourselves on their terms rather than on our own.
Dan Rettberg Klau Library Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Cincinnati, Ohio ========================================================================== HaSafran - The Electronic Forum of the Association of Jewish Libraries Submissions for HaSafran, send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org/
