The anatomy of failure in library applications of computer technology

This paper is an analysis of a community college district's attempt to introduce computer technology into the operation of its five libraries. In spite of the fact that the conversion from the Dewey Decimal Classification system to the Library of Congress Classification (LCC) system, which initiated the effort, began about nine years ago, the basic causes of failure are as relevant today as they were then because they are rooted in the minds of those responsible for them: librarians, computer specialists and institutional executives. Involved in the project were five libraries serving the district's five campuses, a centralized acquisitions and processing unit (referred to here as library technical services or LTS) responsible for ordering and cataloging materials for the district's five libraries, and the district's computer center.published or submitted for publicatio