June 6, 2003

Libraries Should Discard Unnecessary Material

To the Editor:

John Lenger complains that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Libraries withdrew a copy of the Harvard treasurer's statement of 1831 ("Pieces of History, Gone to the Highest Bidder," The Review, April 25). I say, good for MIT! Had Mr. Lenger checked nearby Harvard University's catalog, he would have found that Harvard has multiple copies of the document, and moreover has digitized it so that access is available on the Web. Clearly, there was no need for MIT to