So, the other week the Harper Government decided to destroy some libraries filled with irreplaceable scientific data. Any thoughts?
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/fisheri ... -1.2486171
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/pol ... e16237051/
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014 ... s_say.html
Libricide
To begin with, I don't live in Canada and I still feel like I don't have very much background information.
On the one hand, if all this research and information is being thrown away/scattered to the winds without much notice, that seems wrong and like it could have been handled better. Like I said, I don't have much context for the incident, but I would think giving a notice of what was going on a few months in advance for the most valuable materials to be transferred, and the other research made available to scientists or those who might need it. On rereading the articles provided, it seems like the government at least tried some of this, but it still appears there was a lot of waste.
On the other hand, my impression from the article was that around 2/3 of the research libraries were being closed, that others would still be available, and that the libraries were not being used to the extent that the cost of maintaining them was justified. Closing some of the libraries makes sense, if they are not being used and are costing the taxpayer. As a brief example, I worked for a county beach last summer (and probably will this summer too), and if I ever end up in my county or state's government, that would be one of the first items on my agenda to fix; the inefficiency and waste I saw there were both laughable and disturbing. I would probably either auction it off to a private business or at least make some adjustments in how it was run. There are many better ways to run that beach, and unfortunately my fellow lifeguards and I really couldn't do anything about the system.
In conclusion, good for the government for trying to reduce costs where possible, but it's a shame that they're letting some of those resources go to waste.
On the one hand, if all this research and information is being thrown away/scattered to the winds without much notice, that seems wrong and like it could have been handled better. Like I said, I don't have much context for the incident, but I would think giving a notice of what was going on a few months in advance for the most valuable materials to be transferred, and the other research made available to scientists or those who might need it. On rereading the articles provided, it seems like the government at least tried some of this, but it still appears there was a lot of waste.
On the other hand, my impression from the article was that around 2/3 of the research libraries were being closed, that others would still be available, and that the libraries were not being used to the extent that the cost of maintaining them was justified. Closing some of the libraries makes sense, if they are not being used and are costing the taxpayer. As a brief example, I worked for a county beach last summer (and probably will this summer too), and if I ever end up in my county or state's government, that would be one of the first items on my agenda to fix; the inefficiency and waste I saw there were both laughable and disturbing. I would probably either auction it off to a private business or at least make some adjustments in how it was run. There are many better ways to run that beach, and unfortunately my fellow lifeguards and I really couldn't do anything about the system.
In conclusion, good for the government for trying to reduce costs where possible, but it's a shame that they're letting some of those resources go to waste.
"And the fire with all the strength it hath."