1. 聯合目錄
毛慶禎 輔仁大學圖書資訊學系副教授
2008/4/1, http://www.lins.fju.edu.tw/mao/works/dl4readers.htm
for 全國新書資訊月刊
1999 年，洛杉磯公共圖書館的參考館員提出建置地球上最大圖書館的構想(Coffman99), 引起圖
書館界相當的震憾，時隔九年，一個介面查遍全球，已經不是夢想。
1995 年成立的亞馬遜網路書店，雖然祗有幾十萬種庫存，卻提供數十億種圖書目錄。它的經營
模式提醒圖書館界，何不讓讀者搜尋全世界所有的圖書目錄? 納入 OCLC Worldcat 的資料庫，
再把現有及採購中的圖書加入，應該擁有數千萬種書目，即使最挑剔的讀者也該會滿意。
若能加上書衣、目次、書評，就像亞馬遜網路書店一般；當然，上網之後，以任何瀏覽器都能
搜尋這個目錄。
Suppose further, that we've gone through that catalog and, wherever possible, we've "enhanced" our
cryptic bibliographic records by adding cover art, jacket copy, tables of contents, indexes, reviews,
selections from the text, and anything else that might help our patrons evaluate and select the books
they want -- just as Amazon has gone through and added all kinds of content, special browsing
arrangements, recommendation "engines" and other features to try to make it as easy as possible for
their customers to find what they want.
Finally, suppose we made this catalog available over the Web, so your patrons could logon and search
it from anywhere in the world any time of the day or night -- just as they can now with the Amazon
catalog. And when your patrons searched the catalog, they would get back a result set that showed --
not who owned the item, or where it was located (most could care less) -- but how quickly they could
get it (e.g., this title available immediately from at your local branch; this title ships in 24 hours; this
title ships in 2-3 days; etc.) When a person found what they were looking for, all they would have to do
is "click" to check it out. They could arrange to pick it up at their local library or have it shipped
directly to them for a small additional fee.
Of course, all of this would cost a lot of money -- Amazon spends around 12.5 million per year to
develop and operate its catalog, Web site and transaction system -- but that is only a small percentage
of the 465 million per year Library Journal estimates libraries are currently spending on automation
systems alone. And the question is, how many catalogs and circulation systems do we need? Do we
really each need to spend the millions we are spending to maintain separate, and often pretty
rudimentary, catalogs and circulation systems at each institution, or wouldn't it be better to pool our
funds and develop one really nice catalog and circulation system that would work for all?
The article goes on to explore the various ramifications such a system might have on library operations:
how you might be able to use it to transform the way we do collection development; how libraries
might be encouraged to make their collections available for loan; potential new revenue sources it
might open up; and so forth -- all in much greater detail than I can relate here.

2. I am very gratified that the article has generated a substantial amount of interest and comment, --
enough so that the editor, Barbara Quint, has asked me to do a follow-up piece to try to address the
various issues that have been raised. I would welcome comments, suggestions, and even criticisms,
from the readers of D-Lib Magazine who might have an interest in this subject matter. The only thing I
ask is that you please read the article first. It is over 10,000 words in length, and it is almost impossible
for me to do the article justice in this forum. Also, I'll need to have any comments by June 1st in order
to insure they are incorporated into the upcoming piece. You may email me at coffman@cerfnet.com,
or phone me at 1-800-582-1093. Feel free to say whatever you'd like, I welcome any and all comments.
Finally, if you would like to explore the subject in more depth, you should know that the Internet
Librarian Conference is planning a full track on Building Earth's Largest Library at it meeting in San
Diego this November. For further information, visit their Web site at
http://www.infotoday.com/il99/il99.htm.
當場被批評成一無是處。
註
• Coffman99, Building Earth's Largest Library: Driving into the Future / Steve Coffman,
"Searcher Magazine", Volume 7, Number 3, March 1999, http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/
mar99/coffman.htm (broken link)
��.1The Open Library: Imagine a library that collected all the world's information about all the
world's books and made it available for everyone to view and update. demo
��.2Information Wants To Be Free: A librarian, writer and tech geek reflecting on the profession
and the tools we use to serve our patrons
��.3How to turn e-books into MP3, and how to listen to them [電子書轉換為 MP3]
��.4LibraryThing, LibraryThing for Libraries - 網路編目與世界接軌。GuruLib、
lib.rario.us、Shelfari
��.5[WorldCat.org] 在附近的圖書館中搜尋圖書、音樂、錄像、文章和其他的資料, 世界各
地的一萬多所圖書館中有超過 10 億種資料, http://worldcat.org/
��.6LibraryThing for Libraries [聯合目錄]
��.7Google 與城邦、博客來合作，共推中文圖書搜尋, 經濟部投資事業處中華民國招商網,
2007 年 2 月 9 日, http://investintaiwan.nat.gov.tw/zh-tw/news/200702/2007020901.html
��.8Google Book Search Library Partners, http://books.google.com/googlebooks/partners.html