Gary Stevenson asks, "What happened to the original idea?"

Gary is entirely correct in encouraging us to step back a bit and
exercise a little caution along with our collective enthusiasm for
broadening access to the vast wealth of documentation available within
our libraries of association journals.  His suggestion and his efforts
focus on the all important index.  Without the index, all this
documentation amounts to nothing more profound than a good novel to be
read cover to cover sequentially, page by page, picture by picture.

I for one got caught up in the initial enthusiasm of the potential of
DC-ROM publication of our Journals as suggested by Sam Harris in this
current round of discussions.  I still feel strongly that such a goal
is admirable and very much within long range planning for all our
respective associations.

But as Gary has clearly indicated, the absolute critical ingredient
is a machine-readable index, ideally going back to Vol. 1, No. 1 of our
respective journals.  The task is not trivial, it's huge, and cannot be
achieved by one person overnight.  What is important is that it is
actually underway, and for one association at least, is now at a stage
of usefulness.  I believe Gary should be commended for his initiative
and leadership.

It may not be perfect, it may not be leading edge, but it is there
now, available, and with a little luck and foresight will continue to
available into perpetuity.  As time passes, both the startup production
and on into future maintenance, computer equipment and software will
undergo significant changes and improvements.  What is leading edge
today will be obsolete tomorrow.  Fortunately, techniques and software
are becoming ever more available and useful to make possible continuous
modification of a database for contemporary software.

The Internet is forcing a profound rethinking of our way of communi-
cating with one another.  Some people use a Mac, some Win95, some Unix,
some CP/M, some neXt; others use Netscape, some Explorer, some Opera,
some text-based Lynx.  There is no one consistent software or operating
system that everybody uses or is comfortable with.  But the simplicity
of the Internet makes it all possible for us all to communicate with
one another.

Therefore, it is important that simplicity of database such that
migration from one platform to another, one software to another, one
generation of computers to another will always be possible.  The
Internet itself operates at a lowest possible common denominator,
very much within the KISS principle.

I have no doubt at all that on a different level, with different
people, challenges of a different nature are present within the ongoing
effort to find a computer method to record and preserve music roll data
into perpetuity.  It is an ongoing process.  What is significant is a
positive attitude to keep moving forward, building on the strengths and
achievements of others.  A future CD-ROM edition of the collective
works of our respective journals is basically no different.

I have no doubt at all that at some point in the future, our journals
will become available on CD-ROM or some derivative of it.  It would be
prudent and useful now to have a look, as best we can, into a cloudy
crystal ball, and start the migratory process into that future option.

It can only be a supplementary option, for I rather doubt we will ever
eliminate our printed journals.  There is a certainty that many people
will not ever own a computer.  There is also a certainty that libraries
everywhere will have leading edge in-house technology to make possible
searches through large collections of journals no different than ours.

The absolute critical ingredient is the presence of an index on the
front end.  It is entirely possible that future indexes can be
automatically built as a natural, normal by-product of the periodic
production of a journal.  But for the past, I see no other option than
to do exactly what Gary has done, and is proposing we all do - make a
beginning, keep it simple, build the index going back to Vol. 1, No. 1.

Enthusiasm for, and interest in, some future archival production of our
journals in some form of CD-ROM is healthy and desireable.  Certainly a
small group of people from each association can and should develop a
co-operative working relationship aimed at long range planning toward
that ultimate, but not necessarily elusive goal.

An equally small group of people from within each association can and
should be tackling the task of building the critical index to make it
all possible.  Gary has shown us that it is possible.  His leadership
is commendable.

Just my continuing thoughts on this very important issue.

Regards,

Terry Smythe                   smythe@mts.net
55 Rowand Avenue               smythe@freenet.mb.ca
Winnipeg, MB, Canada  R3J 2N6  (204) 832-3982
http://www.winnipeg.freenet.mb.ca/~smythe