Tepid water for everyone? the future OLUC, catalogers, and outsourcing

As we move into 1994, it seems opportune to reflect on the OLUC and what it might become in the next few years. We are at the beginning of an interesting era for cataloging because of two factors: technology and finances. That is, technology is expanding while finanaces are dwindling. We might be at the beginning of a cycle of decisions leading us to utilize a superior technology that will give patrons access to a mediocre bank of information. This is similar to having wonderful plumbing in a building but an inadequate water supply. There would be beautiful fixtures throughout that building, stupendous service on those fixtures, fountains everywhere, innovative nozzles and spigots and basins, but out of each faucet would come the exact same thing: tepid water – a product that almost never meets anyone′s needs. Is that really service? More to the point, is that what we want to deliver: tepid water for everyone?