“Scanning the great libraries is a wonderful idea, but if only one corporation controls access to this digital collection, we’ll have handed too much control to a private entity,” Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive and the Open Content Alliance said.
Amen.
“There are two opposed pathways being mapped out…One is shaped by commercial concerns, the other by a commitment to openness, and which one will win is not clear.” Paul Duguid, an adjunct professor at the School of Information at the University of California, Berkeley.
Book scanning stations at the Internet Archive.Quotes and image above from Katie Hafner’s piece in today’s New York Times Libraries Shun Deals to Place Books online.
It is a good sign to see this debate reach this level. Awareness is a major ingredient in change and the New York Times is a major ingredient in awareness.
Previous Book Patrol posts:
The Digital Battle for our Literary Heritage
Other Books and Google posts
Image by Ann Johannson.