Barbara J. Winter responded to Suzanne Quigley as follows > > > >......Maybe even sued! > > > >>If anybody can lay their hands on any of these "samizdat" copies, I will > >>volunteer to scan and post them on a gopher server that will be accessible > >>from anywhere. We can show that we've improved on samizdat just a little > >>bit since the Soviet days. We have the technology. > > > >But I suggest we should use it ethically (especially in a public forum like > >museum-l)! > > > >I can't find "samizdat" in my dictionary. Help me out here, someone! > > > >Suzanne Quigley > >[log in to unmask] > > > > "Samizdat" refers to underground ms. circulated in the USSR, often critical > of gov't. Many of these apparently were laboriously copied by hand. ( I > visited the USSR Academies of Science - Moscow and Novosibirsk in 1987, > Leningrad (now St,P's) and Ulan Ude in 1989. There was a paucity of > equipment. Typewriters were all manuals and the major museums didn't have a > single photocopier. I'm certain this has changed, but I expect most > samizdat ms. were literally manuscripts) Example - authors such as > Alexandyr Solzenitsyn circulated literary works. > > If I can attempt a shift in the thread a bit here - what do people think > about use of museum resources in this manner? Here in Canada we are in the > throes of a public debate over gov't funding cuts to balance the federal and > provincial budgets. Is the person (yes, I know who s/he is) offering the > gopher service working for a public institution? Would public resources be > spent on it? eg. the person scanning on company time? I am the person who made that offer and the answers are no and no. The museum I work for is not a public institution, and if the scanning and posting of these texts should actually ever come to pass, which seems highly unlikely, it would be an entirely personal project that would _not_ involve my employer. I have a personal account on an internet access provider here in Cleveland which would provide a means for these to be made available. Actually, it might have to be anonymous ftp rather than gopher, but it could be done. > > What is the role of the museum professional in promoting debate and freedom > of information? Can we spend public resources on activites which, while > they may benefit the greater society in an indirect manner, are a) aimed at > a fairly small number and b) do not directly promote the institution's > mandate and programme goals? These are valid questions but do not relate specifically to this situation. > > Is there a parallel with institutional support for professional development? -- David Condon, Librarian | [log in to unmask] Cleveland Museum of Natural History | 1 Wade Oval Drive, University Circle | +1 (216) 231-4600 ext.222 Cleveland, Ohio 44106-1767 | Fax: +1 (216) 231-5919