Re: Http loc not a citation

[TomDeVrie@xxxxxxx]

I still don't know what extra compexity is involved in citing literature with
different formats, at least in the citing.

David does raise the legitimate concern of pagination on an electronic
document.  A convention will be needed, but it need not be any worse than
trying to figure out the figure-vs-plate issue now.  In Web-based documents,
figures need not have a page; they could simply exist as free-standing
documents (pages), referred to by figure number.  Pagination of text could be
standardized by journals simply by insisting on page margins, font size, and
lines per page.  Page layout would be a concern of the past; references to
figures can be imbedded as links in documents; text would not be offset by
figures.

It is no more complex to find email documents at libraries than it is paper
documents, and it will be a lot easier for all libraries to stock all
journals, so I don't have to track down copies at obscure libraries who may
not let them out for loan.

I expect that library-based access will impose order on the present chaotic
Web.  (People have to remember: this means of electronic access has only been
widely visible and accessible for months, or a couple of years at most.

Library updates of electronic databases might be far cheaper than
computerization of card catalogs.  If libraries choose the simplest possible
text and photo storage, it might only require a re-write of front-end
software to update access for users. 

As for access - I don't need software to read the old literature either, but
I do have to spend hundreds of dollars to travel to a library that has that
old literature, if I want to look at it in person.  I'd rather sit in my own
office and read it there on-line.