As a topic that has been discussed at random but in length.
The role/program of the library: how has it evolved over the years, decades, centuries...? What social role has the library had on the public? How has digital media and technology influenced the advancement or decline of the current social and fundamental roles of the library? Can digital media, technology, and documentation change the program of the "current" library?
Exploring libraries in general: primarily we see a trend and cultural need for the library as a social keystone in local communities but, concurrently we see advancement and the expansion for the use of computers as a "tool" for library users and visitors. Expanding existing areas within libraries and contracting others to make room for the computer and digital age and to accommodate new technologies ( Fx: 20-40yrs ago, libraries made room for a new technology that made its peak in the 70's as a new documentation source, the microfilm). Changing the library program in this sense did not hurt the traditional library role but, in fact, helped to expand the library. Documenting books, articles, and papers on the 'new media' opened physical areas that were normally used for housing books to community areas and shared reading spaces.
Presently computers and digital scanners make it easy to archive, transport, search and find literature and images across the world (Fx: the Internet/world wide web)...how can this technology effect one of the foundational program elements of a library, which is housing and storing books for loan. Would the role of the library change if all the media and literature of the library was housed in the computer?...therefore, making knowledge accessible to everyone across the world...potentially saving thousands upon thousands of natural resources and money that would normally be associated with the making of paper bound books.
If you think about your visits to the library on a more daily-functional activity: breakdown your uses for the library...[is it a place] to pick up books for loan, for social gathering/meeting place, studying , computer access, Internet, escape, printing, resources, community...?
[think about] how digital documentation can open up spaces normally used for 'the stacks'. how digital media can efficiently allow you to do more research in less time (movement through large libraries can be time consuming, not to mention the complex cataloging/numbering system).how digital media and documentation can enhance learning environments with interactive studying and learning programs and spaces within the library.
[other questions] price or value of paper bound books in the future: what will be the role of the home library?: collectors of books and their future investment decisions: the relationship between publishers and writers: piracy of books:
[evolution] currently humans have trouble reading on computer screens for long periods of time (commonly known as eye fatigue)...if children are brought up on reading from computer screens at an early age, primary socialization, instead of books, will their eyes adjust over time?: development of portable digital books (a contemporary ibook if you will this will only help the transition from analog books to digital literature)
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3 comments:
I find the piracy issue the most interesting/problematic. Piracy grows more rampant as the days go by and I don’t see it slowing down any time soon. As more and more resources become available in this proposed digital library, the prospect of their misappropriation skyrockets, while the returns seen by their creator (not to mention their publisher) plummet. Currently, the book is one of the only media left that I will consider purchasing, due in large part to it's poor digital translation (audio books on the other hand...but that's a different discussion).
There have been times, even in the library's current incarnation, that I have wondered how it survives. I mean think about it, a place where you can go, get a book (the same book you'd pay money for anywhere else it is available) bring it home, and read it at your leisure, provided you bring it back in a month. The reason it's allowed is because your access is limited. Not everyone can go and check out the new Harry Potter book as soon as the library gets it. They’ll probably get 3 copies max. If that book is digitized, however, all those people can read it at once, right when the library gets it, and none of them have to go buy it. The second you remove the physical choke point of availability, the system as we know it falls apart. BAM! Libraries just became Napster for books. What now?
I suppose one could create some kind of digital choke point. Something that would allow only a certain number of people to view the material online at once, but unless you remove every computers’ print screen function, that does little to slow the spread.
Piracy issues aside, there is something about the book that precludes its digital translation. music, movies, TV shows, when distributed to the masses, all require some kind of electronic mediation in order to enjoy them, a book does not. This, I believe, is where the difference lies. The book contains everything it needs. There is also the experience factor, the book is something that you interact with; the size, the shape, the layout, the texture. In a good book, all these factors have been taken into account. See the work of Mark Z. Danielewski as an example.
there is nothing like walking through stacks and stacks of books in the library. it can be overwhelming at times, but it definitely has its magnificence. when searching the catalogs of a library, one is usually not exposed to all the possible books that may be of assistance in a particular topic. it isn't until the researcher walks down the stacks of books that he is able to visualize all the information that is at his finger tips. i don't believe that the time of the library will fade away, though it is possible that it may become a luxury. i myself love to hold a book in my hands, it is an intimate embrace that is both enlightening and comforting.
as for reading from the screen, it is difficult now to read for long periods of time on computer screens, but i am sure that with the growing number of digital readings, technology will create a screen that is not as abrasive on the eyes.
i think that the time of the library won't pass because it hasn't come. as americans and literates we have taken for granted a privilege that cannot be seen everywhere in the world. yes the computer has become a luxury to all to a point that 85 percent of all public libraries say they have trouble meeting all the demands of computers during the day (http://www.gatesfoundation.org/
UnitedStates/USLibraryProgram/Announcements/
Announce-050623.htm). But the real truth is that there are more than 20 countries in Africa that have over 40 percent of their population illiterate. in 2001, UNESCO listed that there are one billion illiterate adults, of which 98 percent live in developing countries. i am not preaching that there needs to be development in these countries because economically the world needs developing countries to help keep technology advancing and money in our pockets. but the fact, "when an old man dies in Africa a library disappears", is still evident. so maybe should there be a movement to renew the use of libraries as storehouses of human knowledge and centers for learning? i don't know. a good point thats been brought up is what do we actually use the library for today? in our lives? social meeting areas, study rooms, places for printing? books ultimately can be one of the fastest ways to research and share information, but unfortunately not everyone can afford to build their own library let alone buy one book. so is this the purpose of the library? who really knows now-a-days? what is evident is that we have taken it for granted and maybe local libraries will begin to die out if people rely on their PC too much. what now?
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