GD: If you were in charge of library school curriculum, what might you add or take away (if anything)?
BC: There should really be way more practical experience. I think that’s true with any education, but especially in library school. More time on the desk, more time in cataloging, more time doing just about anything. It would also be great if they could add a history of libraries and history of the book class.
GD: When did you start LISNews.com, and why?
BC: I started the site in November 1999.
I wish I had a good story behind the site, some noble goal, or lofty idealism, or something like that. Unfortunately I just thought I’d see if I could do it to get some experience with a real site, and to teach myself some programming. At the time I felt like I was on the outside looking in, I was teaching web design, but had no web sites myself. I was also curious to see if I could extend the slashdot model into the library world. I was curious to see if there was any interest out there.
GD: How do you find the stories you post daily?
BC: The best ones are passed along by readers like Bob Cox, Chales Davis and Lee Hadden. I do a lot of poking around at sites like metafilter, morever, and any other news sites I can find. Lately more people are submitting stories, and as this happens I think the site really improves. As the site has grown, the number of story submissions has grown along with it, now we get one or two great stories from people around the world every day, it sure makes my job much easier!
GD: How do you find the authors that contribute?
BC: A lot of begging! I tried sending out calls to lists when the site first started, and got almost no responses. I have a “Help Wanted” sign hanging on the site, and that seems to help, but I’m always looking for more. We have a great crew now, but some days can be slow, and most authors only have time to post once a week, so I think we have room for a few more. I am a big believer in collaboration, and I think a few more good authors would be great. The great thing about the site is the collaboration we have, between the authors, and the LISNews community, people like Walt Crawford, and others, really add a lot.
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