Wow, I guess I am out-of-touch with reality; I almost choked when I read that the proposed Rhode Island state-wide library database, SurfRI, will cost 1.6 million. I guess that I had no clear idea of how much it might cost, but 1.6m certainly took me by surprise.
I just took another look at the database (the FREE trial is still on - if you haven't checked it out, hop on over) and, yeah, there's a lot of stuff here. So, I guess the price tag shouldn't come as a shock - though, like many of us here in Library Land, I am continually surprised/appalled by the fees charged by database providers.
I am assuming that the state databases elsewhere run into the same kind of cash - and since we are one of the very few states without such a database, I am also assuming that the other states have somehow managed to support it. The scuttlebutt so far is that SurfRI has had a lot of good feedback, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that it becomes a reality.
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