[Web4lib] A Delicious Future for Libraries?

[Dale Askey]

I have to second Karen's objection to the statement she quotes from 
Peter's article. Such uncritical hyperbolic statements about Google's 
undertaking really need to stop. One wishes that people both on this 
list and elsewhere were so uncritically enthusiastic about libraries' 
efforts to tackle large projects. We flagellate ourselves bloody picking 
on our own shortcomings, yet some choose to greet Google with the 
rose-colored specs firmly placed on their noses.

Google already restricts the ability of users in other countries to see 
certain texts in Google Print, and their recent "launch" of 
international Google Print sites just puts some fancy window dressing on 
an ugly rights problem. Moreover, Google Print clearly has an anglophone 
bent, ignoring the fact that many of the "world's greatest works" have 
appeared in languages that currently can't easily be dealt with in a 
project such as Google's (Fraktur or Arabic, anyone?).

Google Print is not "amazing" (except in the sense that it's amazingly 
frustrating in its inconsistency), it's an interesting start into 
something much larger and complex than even mighty Google can imagine. 
In a few years we'll laugh at such megalomaniacal designs when a more 
realistic and workable reality emerges.

Dale


Karen Coyle wrote:
> I think that this statement is not true:
> 
> "The collections of the University of Michigan, Harvard University, 
> Stanford University, the New York Public Library, and Oxford University 
> will be accessible to anyone, anytime, anywhere. This is amazing. The 
> world’s greatest works of art, history, science, engineering, law, and 
> literature are about to join the public Web. "
> 
> The collections are not joining the web, and the collections are not 
> accessible. You can do *discovery* through Google, but good luck 
> borrowing the book. Public Domain items may be available in their 
> entirety, but in a very degraded form for using or reading. Remember, 
> Google is creating an index, not e-books, and not a library.
> 
> kc
> 
> Peter Morville wrote:
> 
>> Some thoughts about the future of librarianship:
>>
>>     Ambient Findability: Libraries at the Crossroads of Ubiquitous
>> Computing and the Internet
>>     http://www.infotoday.com/online/nov05/morville.shtml
>>
>> I'd love to hear reactions whether positive or critical or both. Thanks!
>>
>>
>> Peter Morville
>> President, Semantic Studios
>> http://semanticstudios.com
>> http://findability.org
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Web4lib mailing list
>> Web4lib at webjunction.org
>> http://lists.webjunction.org/web4lib/
>>
>>
>>  
>>
> 

-- 
Dale Askey
Web Development Librarian
KSU Libraries
118 Hale Library
Manhattan, KS 66506
(785) 532-7672