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Re: Electronic HRAF
David Houston (dhouston@MOOSE.UVM.EDU)
Wed, 23 Mar 1994 10:14:29 -0500
On Sat, 19 Mar 1994, Danny Yee wrote:
> > THE ELECTRONIC HRAF
> .
> Now this sounds wonderful!!!
Yes - and in conjunction with things like Mosaic, it really could be!
....but....
> > Membership Dues
> > $5000. per annual installment
> > $3250. per annual installment for active member institutions
> > $4000. per annual installment for inactive and Cross-Cultural CD
> > member institutions
> Aaarrggghhhh!! The anthropology department at Sydney University doesn't
> use computers for anything except work processing (and doesn't have any
> money either). The library here has stopped ordering new periodicals
> because of funding cuts, and has a pitiful electronic database
> collection. And I sure can't afford those sorts of prices personally.
>
> This means my chances of ever getting access to the ELECTRONIC HRAF are
> pretty much to zero. I know it's a bit much to expect this sort of
> database to be made freely accessible to anyone on the net, but at those
> sort of prices it's really a case of "unto those who have shall be
> given", as only those in well-off departments in well-off universities
> will ever get a chance to use it. (And if Sydney University can't afford
> it, how many universities in the poorer half of the world can come up
> with those sorts of sums?)
And, he is also absolutely correct in this regard. It is very sad that
resources of this type will be accessible to so few. It does not bode
well for the future. Ironic especially in light of the plummeting prices
on the hardware....
David Houston
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