With respect to St. Catherine's joining business, I think the saying: It All Depends applies.

On one hand, a revered library educator intones, "Business does not cooperate; they absorb."

On the other hand, a growing and convincing body of research demonstrates that public libraries, for example, can have a positive impact on local economics/business. It's the "they visited the library and also bought a shirt or or ate lunch at a local establishment" observation.

The kinds of business models that may apply are not based solely on circulation statistics or reference questions answered; the kinds that apply may help demonstrate economic impact.

Good things can happen as a result of mergers. It all depends. We need to observe on WHAT it depends.

Chuck Curran

SLIS, USC
[log in to unmask]
803 777 6632

From: Gretchen Whitney <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Friday, July 13, 2012 7:17 PM
Subject: MLIS program reallignment at St. Catherine's University (fwd)

Rec'd with a technical glitch. --gw

Just wondering what folks on jESSE think of this recent announcement:

http://libraryjuicepress.com/blog/?p=3481

Bernie Sloan
Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2012 00:31:15 -0400
From: B.G. Sloan <[log in to unmask]>

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Gretchen Whitney, PhD, Retired
School of Information Sciences
University of Tennessee, Knoxville TN 37996 USA [log in to unmask]
http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/
jESSE:http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/jesse.html
SIGMETRICS:http://web.utk.edu/~gwhitney/sigmetrics.html
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Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2012 00:31:15 -0400