"It would be naïve to identify the Internet with the Enlightenment. It has the potential to diffuse knowledge beyond anything imagined by Jefferson; but while it was being constructed, link by hyperlink, commercial interests did not sit idly on the sidelines. They want to control the game, to take it over, to own it. They compete among themselves, of course, but so ferociously that they kill each other off. Their struggle for survival is leading toward an oligopoly; and whoever may win, the victory could mean a defeat for the public good. ...We could have created a National Digital Library—the twenty-first-century equivalent of the Library of Alexandria. It is too late now. Not only have we failed to realize that possibility, but, even worse, we are allowing a question of public policy—the control of access to information—to be determined by private lawsuit."—
Robert Darnton on what the proposed
Google Book Settlement could mean for the pursuit of knowledge—
Google and the Future of Books
posted by Toekneesan
on Jan 23, 2009 -
44 comments
So, whatcha readin? The
John Ashcroft Alberto Gonzales Michael Mukasey Book Club wants to discuss your latest reads.
Amazon thinks it's none of their business. So does your
librarian. While it may seem that your reading list is safe, fact is you're actually just one National Security Letter or subpoena away from full disclosure. Want to change that? One step in the right direction would be to contact your Senator about getting
S.2088 out of Committee and on to the floor. Oh, and tell them to vote for it. And then to override the veto.
posted by Toekneesan
on Nov 28, 2007 -
19 comments
The
Prelinger Library is a small privately owned "public library" in San Francisco with the
unique philosophy that browsing library stacks can reveal new knowledge, if the books are arranged for browsing. This is counter to most public libraries who rely on computer terminal searching, databases and the Dewey Decimal system to atomize books and subjects, with stack browsing a sort of random after effect, and in some places--like the Library of Congress--normally not even allowed. Now a (real) public library in Arizona has
joined the revolution and claims to be the first public library in the nation to drop the Dewey Decimal system. Instead, books will be shelved by topic, similar to the way bookstores arrange books. The demise of the century-old Dewey Decimal system is overdue, county librarians say: "People think of books by subject. Very few people say, 'Oh, I know Dewey by heart.' "
posted by stbalbach
on Jun 10, 2007 -
84 comments
Tiki's mother takes him to see a pakeha township for the first time. One of
many books available from the International Children's Digital Library.
posted by tellurian
on Aug 3, 2006 -
7 comments
