Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Barbarians Inside The Gates

Chrysler Corporation, under the auspices of its parent Cerberus Capital Management has destroyed its historical engineering library.
The Truth About Cars has the disgraceful story:

With little notice and no planning, Cerberus literally abandoned the engineering library at the Chrysler Technical Center. The library was shuttered and the librarian laid off. And then the real crime: all the library’s books and materials were offered to anyone who could carry them away.

I repeat: the documents were free for the taking. Within a week, a collection spanning decades (back to 1925) was scattered to the winds; the books and other materials will never again be available in any coherent, comprehensive form.
As one commenter said: "you have to care about the future to think old records are worth preserving."