ABSTRACT
When Sul Lee first asked that I speak at this meeting, I confess that I was both flattered and a bit awed at the prospect of speaking to this gathering. I hope to share with you a perspective that you will find reasonable and one that will augment the wisdom you gain from the speakers who follow me in this program. It is a distinguished group that I have joined for this program and I am grateful for the opportunity to participate. Sul and I talked at some length over a pleasant dinner about the subject matter for this event: Access, resource-sharing and collection development in the twenty-first century. As we talked about the conference my mind began to race about graphic illustrations I might use in my presentation. I don’t use overhead projections, but since they seem to be mandatory these days I brought one quote I thought appropriately matched the subject of this conference:
More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.
—Woody Allen
