[Genealib] No more remote access to HQ

[Drew Smith]

Joy Rich wrote: "Godfrey Memorial Library paid $6,000 to ProQuest to provide
Godfrey Scholars access to The New York Times. This year, ProQuest wanted
asked Godfrey for $110,000 for it. Some portion of the increase can be
attributed to a growth in Godfrey's membership and some to ProQuest learning
what the market will bear."

>From my understanding (partial as it necessarily is) of what goes on behind
the scenes in order to offer and support online services, it isn't really a
matter of either membership growth or what the market will bear, but of the
cost of doing business.  Some of us may remember what happened when
FamilySearch first went online, and how the demand went off the scale.  It
can be very difficult to predict with any accuracy how much demand there is
going to be for online services.  And those services are supported by tons
of expensive hardware, software, and personnel.  I worked in university
computer centers for more than 25 years, and I saw firsthand how much has to
be done, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year, to keep
online systems going for the end users.  It's mind-boggling.

Drew Smith
Instructor
School of Library and Information Science
University of South Florida, Tampa
dsmith at mail.usf.edu
work: (813) 974-6849
cell: (813) 263-2028