[WEB4LIB] Re: Shirky (fwd) [LONG!]

[David Merchant]

>Second, the new does not displace the old, as you said.

Yes, both worlds can, and should, co-exist, at least I would like to think 
they could find a way: digitizing which also allows books to be preserved 
physically (which you did say you were not for getting rid of books, glad 
to get that clarification, thus if at any time I acted as if you were 
anti-book, I now retract and apologize for that).

>Additionally, digitization would allow the LoC to distribute its books
>globally, to English readers everywhere. I recognize that because
>their funding is tied to national identity the idea of creating a
>public good for a global populace is not part of their charter, but it
>seems to me to be an important additional benefit of digitization.

Not disagreeing with you that there are benefits to digitalization. Even 
Billington wouldn't disagree with that. Just that there is MORE benefits to 
digitalization of rare materials rather than whole books (using a 
comparative here: not saying there are NO benefits to digitalization of 
whole books, just that the priority should be on rare materials that people 
can't even get via InterLibrary Loan, or from their local library, or even 
from their regional libraries). And per my earlier remarks about 
InterLibrary Loan, I must concede that ILL is not always readily available 
to all folk (undergrads usually have a harder time getting something via 
ILL than do graduate students, for example -- at least that's the case here 
at Tech and several other colleges I know of), and that it sometimes cost 
the patron money to have something interlibrary loaned, and that 
digitization could come to the rescue here (paying a royalty fee, though, 
would probably still be involved, except for public domain stuff).

> >  But it does help tremendously the libraries that have Internet
> > access: they now can "add" to their collection items they could
> > never hope to add or even get by interlibrary loan.  Again, it makes
> > very logical sense to start digitizing the rare items first.
>
>This seems to me to be the copyright tail wagging the digital
>dog.

I'm confused (not the first time, I assure you!), how is digitizing the 
rare items, items that other libraries could never hope to have a physical 
copy of, "the copyright tail wagging the digital dog" ?

>  From my point of view, it makes sense to digitize the most useful
>items first, whatever they are.

I agree, that's what I though I was saying :-): digitize the most useful 
items first, which are the rare materials -- the majority of which are not 
whole books, or are not available to anyone else to digitize and thus is 
basically up to the LoC to digitize (if they don't do it, who will? to 
borrow from PBS).

I get the feeling that the "two factions" aren't as far apart as they may 
think!

All in all, this has been a great dialogue! I know I've learned/benefited 
from it.

TTFN,
David
Systems Librarian, Louisiana Tech University
merchant at latech.edu or webmaster at mountaindragon.com
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