The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 25, June 19, 2005, Article 2

ONLINE ANA LIBRARY CATALOG UPDATE

John F. McCullagh writes: "I read in the latest edition of
The E-Sylum that the ANA is putting their library online.
Will this serve to devalue our private collections? After all,
demand for a particular volume might be adversely affected
by its availability on line. We primarily rely on these books
for reference after all. It is not because they are, for the
most part, gripping reads.

I guess if access is password protected that the books will
not be totally obsolete as ANA membership is still a tiny
minority among the total universe of collectors. It should be
interesting to see how the sale of some of the choice volumes
may be affected."

[What the ANA is planning is simply putting a new, more
searchable CATALOG of the library on the web. This is only
an inventory of the library materials, not searchable scans of the
materials themselves. This was not clear to me either from
reading the company's press release, but it seems bibliophiles
have little to fear (and much to gain) from the move. -Editor]

Nancy W. Green, Librarian of the American Numismatic
Association writes:

"The latest on the new library catalog is that it is not linked to
ANA's website yet but that should happen by next Friday.
You will be able to search for books by author, title and subject
and you will be able to link search terms, i.e. books by Bowers
on gold coins. When you find the book you want, there will be
a number of copies available so if our only copy is checked out,
that will be clear.

We expect to have the periodical holdings list available in the
next week also and then we will investigate loading the auction
catalogs. A member from Michigan is currently volunteering his
time to come to Colorado Springs and physically inventory our
holdings. He is using Martin Gengerke's format and has completed
the list through "K". We are also in the process of becoming part
of the OCLC library system which means when libraries around
the country search for a numismatic title and we own it, our name
will come up as a source for an Inter Library Loan. Jane and I
are so excited about all the potential benefits to us and the members,
we will be giving a Numismatic Theater presentation at the annual
convention in San Francisco at 3PM on Friday July 29 about
the new system and using the web for research."

I asked, "Does making the library open to interlibrary
loan thru OCLC dilute the advantages of ANA membership?
Nancy Green responds: "We have always done interlibrary
loan both as a borrower and a lender of materials. ANA
members have the advantage of the librarians' (Jane and
myself) literary expertise. Members can ask us their question
and we will send the best reference rather than just blindly
ordering titles."

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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