Sue Gordon wrote:
> What do other MCG members think?
I personally think the MCG should continue to try and offer as many
services as possible for free -- the museums that can potentially benefit
the most from such a friendly, accessible and independent forum are the
small and technically under-resourced institutions for whom any barrier,
no matter how small, may prove insurmountable -- even if it's a
bureaucratic barrier (dealing with purchase orders, invoices, accounts
etc.) rather than a purely financial one.
Perhaps the MGC could make a small annual contribution to the MCG's costs
(watch the positioning of those letters there!) to cover things like
postage and copying of the newsletter, meeting co-ordination etc.? A few
hunder quid would make a lot of difference, and the overall net
administrative effort involved would surely be less than billing each
individual and maintaining a set of accounts etc.?
> This is fair comment and I agree that museums should be encouraged to get
> access to the Internet, especially e-mail, as soon as possible. However, I
> suspect that there are still a large number of museums in the UK that are
> currently trying very hard to obtain the necessary resources - but are not,
> as yet, on-line.
I also suspect that there are many museums that do not as yet have access
to the Internet or e-mail, but whereas the problem in the past used to be
a lack of resources, I think now it is more to do with a lack of training
and awareness, and simple techno-fear; Free Internet accounts are
available in the High Street, the Museums & Galleries Commission are
dishing out free modems [1], and computers themselves are cheaper than
they have ever been in real terms. But there are still many who will need
basic hand-holding, support and reassurance before they will feel
confident enough to take their first tentative steps into cyberspace, and
this is a role that the MCG is well-suited to offer.
Cheers,
T.
1. http://www.mailbase.ac.uk/lists/mcg/2000-01/0011.html
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Tony Gill
Research Libraries Group, 1200 Villa St, Mountain View, CA 94041, USA
E: [log in to unmask] T: +1 (650) 691-2304 F: (650) 964-1461
W: http://www.rlg.org/ or http://www.rlg.ac.uk/
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