Study & Discussion Questions for LIS Students
1. S.R. Ranganathan proposed five laws of librarianship, including "save the time of the user" and "every reader his book." Based on your own views, or the ones you've briefly encountered in this module, come up with your own laws of temporary memorial preservation. Do you believe that laws like these could be used to guide future practice?
2. Chris Kelsey discusses the idea of making material received into ash, and then putting that ash in concrete to make it part of a permanent park. Do you believe those responsible for handling the material have a duty to preserve the physical objects as they are received, or do you feel it is acceptable to alter their form in order to create something else?
3. Who should be responsible for first handling the material? For making selection and appraisal decisions? Should those responsible always be trained archivists, librarians, or curators? Should they always be members of the affected community?