Melissa Townsend-Crow
03/16/2013
LIBR285_Week4_Discussion
Traister, D. (2003).
Public services and outreach in rare book, manuscript, and special
collections libraries. Library Trends, Volume 52, Issue 1, 2003,
pages 87-108. http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/library_trends/
- Has the author clearly presented the main points of the
article?
Yes, I believe so.
The problem presented by Traister is that the limited accessibility to rare
books presents not only difficulty for students who need/want to study them,
but in the current economic climate things that are not used in libraries do
not receive the necessary finances to maintain.
- Are the important findings of the research easy to
identify and understand?
Yes. Traister
discusses the outcomes of the research in far more detail than the actual
process of study itself, however. The methods of promotion he proposes are
delineated into separate subheadings and discussed in detail.
- Does the author point out possible shortcomings of the
research?
Yes. Halfway through
the article, Traister states, "Here again, potential problem areas need
consideration" (p. 97) and then asks a series of questions which the
remainder of the article seeks to address.
- Do you feel the literature cited in the article
supports the author’s approach to the topic?
Yes, although a good
portion of the article was based on experiential and anecdotal evidence.
- Has the author connected this research to practice and
commented on how this research can be applied?
Yes. The entire paper
was essentially an exercise in apologetics for Traister's theory that promotion
of rare materials was the answer to funding a rare material collection.
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