[NJARC] Save the Sarnoff book collection!

Sat, 13 Dec 2003 13:13:02 -0600

John,
   I used to think the 'reflector' would be a valuable tool for the club
but it has become painfully evident that you would rather use it as a
'he said, she said' forum. So now I will defend myself from your sling
of
arrows.
I said,=20
"Your idea was good, but we needed to approach him (Alex) before the
sale was=20
announced. If you would like to pursue it further with Alex, be my
guest."

There is no mention of club authorization, I meant you could personally
try to
work something out. As far as voting goes, this is a party, not a
meeting.

You said,
"I'm assuming you gave=20
advance notice to Phil about your offer to sell the books at the=20
meeting-dinner, this negotiation should have taken place then, by him."

Your assumption is wrong. The first I heard of the book sale was when
it was sent out on the reflector.

Now alot of work went into preparing this party for the membership and
I hope we can still have a pleasant time and put this issue behind us.

Phil Vourtsis
Pres.- New Jersey Antique Radio Club

-----Original Message-----
From: John Dilks - K2TQN [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Saturday, December 13, 2003 8:23 AM
To: [email protected]
Cc: Vourtsis, Philip (Phil), ALABS
Subject: Re: [NJARC] Save the Sarnoff book collection!

Alex,

1)  I don't know what Phil told you, but he did authorize me on behalf
of=20
the club.  I have his email.  He was responding to my request that he,
as=20
president, should do this.  He said:

"Your idea was good, but we needed to approach him before the sale was=20
announced. If you would like to pursue it further with Alex, be my
guest.

Phil Vourtsis
Pres.- New Jersey Antique Radio Club"

And I agree with Phil, that he should have approached you before the=20
announcement.

2)  Your original email listing the books as:

"These cover electronic technologies from the 1930s to the 1960s,=20
everything from radio to organic semiconductors."

This is not what your are saying now?

3)  Your librarian told me several times last month that all the radio
and=20
radio related books would be dumpstered to make room for "newer things".

And then you came in and told me the books might be sold on Ebay.  It's=20
only logical that the club should offer to purchase them, to preserve
them,=20
and to make them available to members and to the public.

Since it is obvious that you have now withdrawn the radio books, what
are=20
the exact plans for their future?  Will you sell them to our club?

4)  This is not a "group" offer to purchase them, if offered, it will
come=20
from the club, voted on by the members.  And I have received a lot of=20
emails from members indicating they want to preserve the books in a
library=20
at Camp Evans.

I'm sorry this all comes at the last minute, but I'm assuming you gave=20
advance notice to Phil about your offer to sell the books at the=20
meeting-dinner, this negotiation should have taken place then, by him.

Thank you once again for your consideration,
On behalf of the club,
John Dilks

At 10:35 PM 12/12/03 -0500, Alex Magoun wrote:
>John,
>     Phil tells me that he told you to contact me directly, but not on=20
> behalf of
>the club, about the reserved books that have been deaccessioned from
the David
>Sarnoff Research Center library.
>     There are approximately 72 linear feet of books, and I will again
repeat
>what I said to you and other prospective buyers earlier.  The vast
majority of
>these books do not reflect the interests of radio and television
collectors,
>restorers, or historians.  This collection represents a fraction of a
library
>designed for EE's, physicists, and chemists, mostly with Ph.D.'s, who
can read
>German and French as well as English on subjects like microwave
amplifiers,
>electron and semiconductor physics, lasers, etc., mostly from the 1940s
to
>1970s.  In addition, a several Sarnoff Corporation technical staffers
have
>culled it since you visited.
>     Because my first allegiance has to be to the David Sarnoff
Library, I=20
> have
>removed those books that in my opinion are relevant to historians or
museum
>exhibits on everything from wireless telegraphy and television to
transistors
>and integrated circuits.  I am willing to add the eight duplicate books
from
>that selection (Bucher, Goldsmith, Brown and Lauer, Pierce, Miessner)
to=20
>the lot
>if you and your fellow members still want to buy the entire lot of over
700
>books for $350 and then donate the set to the InfoAge/NJARC library.  I
will
>provide an invoice which would enable whoever writes the check to take
a tax
>deduction on the purchase.
>     As Phil has pointed out, Saturday's party is a party with many=20
> non-members
>attending, not a meeting, so this is up to your group, not the club, to
decide
>if this purchase is the best use of your money on the club's behalf.
>     Sincerely,
>Alex
>
>--
>Alexander B. Magoun Ph.D.
>Executive Director
>David Sarnoff Library
>CN 5300
>Princeton NJ 08543-5300
>
>609-734-2636
>f: 609-734-2339
>[email protected]
>http://www.davidsarnoff.org/
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>NJARC mailing list
>[email protected]
>http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/njarc