Paula Fine wrote: >restrict access to the catalog to synagogue members > Access to the catalog and access to the physical book are two different kettles of fish.
>...make it (the catalog) available to everyone. > Yes. The entire universe if possible. Though Steven Hawkings says that we shouldn't be so trusting of extra-terrestriales with their beam-up technology >thoughts about access to on-line synagogue catalogs. Are there any down-sides None >, potential problems, None > or other issues (including hacking) Hacking is a problem no matter what you do on the internet.. > If we made the catalog available to members only, that would be an > added "perk" A public library is an added perk to anyone who lives in a town but to take out a book you actually have to pick your butt up, go there, sign up for a card, prove you live in the town, ya di da di da..... >it would be good library public relations to make our historic >collection available to the larger >community. An on-line catalog is one thingy and letting the books walk out the door is another thingy. Even the public library doesn't let the reference books and special collections go off premises even to members. If your historic collection catalog is on-line everyone in the whole wide world will know it. Scholars would come from far and wide just to have a look which doesn't mean they will be allowed to walk off with any of it. >The question of security (will we get the books back from a non-member?) Will you get the books back from a member? When people die and leave their libraries to the synagogue library, it is amazing the number of library books one finds amongst the junk >How have you dealt with these issues In La Javurá (Valencia, Spain) no reference book leaves the library. Only quota-paid-up members can check out one book at a time. Anybody can come in and browse whatever and whenever they like by calling and giving me a heads-up. > and what decisions have you made about your on-line catalogs? I keep looking for the gliztyest ways possible to get it into the public. Right now I'm working on LibraryThing. if you want to see the total mess of a catalog we have on-line at the moment, go to our web-page. It's embarrassing, but it's there. Once I get my head around it, I'll pass the catalog over to LibraryThing. Besos de Valencia Alba ************************** Alba Toscano, presª, bibliotª Sinagoga conservador La Javurá calle Uruguay 59, pta 13 46007 Valencia (España) http://www.uscj.org/world/valencia http://lajavura.org Skype: albatoscanovalencia UStream: http://www.lajavura.org/ustream/html Blog de Bitacora de los Viajes con La Javurá 96 380 2129 96 380 6970 658 721 769 lajav...@lajavura.org --- Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) =========================================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: hasaf...@osu.edu SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org