Dear Eric:
I don't presume to speak for Jonathan, but when I read his response to the Oak Knoll posting of a couple of weeks ago, I didn't have the impression that he was characterizing this turn of events as undesirable. As Head of Database Management at the National Gallery of Canada (and former ARLIS-L webmaster), he is as knowledgeable and (I believe) enthusiastic about electronic resources as any of us. I do think he hoped to begin a discussion here of a topic that must certainly have a great impact on our profession--greater, perhaps, than any development since the widespread availability of the Internet. There are other projects underway to digitize large library collections. But I think the announced scope of the U. of Michigan's project in partnership with Google takes the discussion to a whole other level. Google's involvement certainly is what made it so "newsworthy." Jonathan's questions seem to me to be legitimate, intelligent, and not about the goodness or badness of what seems to be inevitable, but about our place in that brave new world. As one who is recently retired--and certainly happy to have more resources available from my home computer--I am still very concerned about art librarianship and wonder what my still-active colleagues think the future holds in store. By the way, according to the ARLIS Handbook, we have at least three members at the U. of Michigan.
Regards,
Joan M. Benedetti
----- Original Message -----
From: Eric Anderson
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Saturday, January 22, 2005 7:35 AM
Subject: Re: [ARLIS-L] Digital Books
Jonathan, I believe this trend is desirable, and it certainly isn't coincidental to Google's announcement. I think that libraries becoming somewhat 'commercial' is a natural development to Project Gutenberg. I do agree that we must promote art and see that it is properly represented among other subjects. Why not participate? It will enhance research in any given field. And, as long as it promotes the free share of knowledge that was previously hidden from most 'ordinary' people (i.e. non-librarians), then I think it is a blessing.
Eric Anderson
[log in to unmask] wrote:
Is it purely coincidental that this follows the recent announcement of Google's plan to digitise millions of books from various major libraries and make them searchable online (see e.g. http://www.google.ca/intl/en/press/pressrel/print_library.html)? I am sure I am not the only one trying to figure out what all this means for us as art librarians.
Since only a few 'snippets' of in-copyright material will be offered by Google, together with links to options for purchasing, will it be more of an acquisitions tool?
What percentage of the material we use is out-of-copyright?
Are there plenty of art books at Michigan University Library, of which "virtually the entire collection" is due to be digitized (http://www.umich.edu/news/index.html?Releases/2004/Dec04/library/index)?
If the Google collection were to become a place of first resort for researchers, do we have a responsibility to see that 'our' subject (i.e. art), is properly represented?
Are we expecting to put links to all those digitised art titles in our local catalogues?
Of course, it could be a godsend to research into the history of book illustration.
I am curious to hear what other members think.
Jonathan
Jonathan Franklin
Head of Collections and Database Management, Library
National Gallery of Canada
380 Sussex Drive
PO Box 427, Station A
Ottawa, Ontario
K1N 9N4
Canada
telephone (613) 990 0590; fax (613) 990 6190; email [log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: ART LIBRARIES SOCIETY DISCUSSION LIST [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Oak Knoll
Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2005 3:51 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [ARLIS-L] Digital Books
In our efforts to keep our website up-to-date and provide practical services to the industry, we have updated our website with a newly functional "Digital Books" page which now lists over 60 fully-digitized books about books for you to search through and enjoy. They are easy to navigate and organized into the following categorizes: Bibliography, Bookbinding, Book Collecting, Book Design, Book Illustration, Bookplates, Book Selling, Fine Printing, Private Press & Artist's Books, Forgery, History of Printing, Libraries, Literary Criticism, Publishing, Typography, and Writing & Calligraphy.
Please click the following link to see the digital books page:
<http://www.oakknoll.com/digitalbooks.php>
We hope you find this to be a helpful utility and would appreciate any feedback you can offer.
Best Wishes,
Your Oak Knollers
Oak Knoll Books
310 Delaware Street New Castle DE 19720
P: 302.328.7232 - F: 302.328.7274 - E: [log in to unmask] web http://www.oakknoll.com/
Member Antiquarian Bookseller's Association of America (ABAA) http://www.abaa.org/
International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) http://www.ilab-lila.com/
Buy with confidence of consumer protection when you buy from an ILAB bookseller
__________________________________________________________________ Mail submissions to [log in to unmask] For information about joining ARLIS/NA see: http://www.arlisna.org//membership.html Send administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc) to [log in to unmask] ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance: http://lsv.uky.edu/archives/arlis-l.html Questions may be addressed to list owner (Kerri Scannell) at: [log in to unmask]
__________________________________________________________________ Mail submissions to [log in to unmask] For information about joining ARLIS/NA see: http://www.arlisna.org//membership.html Send administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc) to [log in to unmask] ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance: http://lsv.uky.edu/archives/arlis-l.html Questions may be addressed to list owner (Kerri Scannell) at: [log in to unmask]
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__________________________________________________________________
Mail submissions to [log in to unmask]
For information about joining ARLIS/NA see:
http://www.arlisna.org//membership.html
Send administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc)
to [log in to unmask]
ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance:
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Questions may be addressed to list owner (Kerri Scannell) at: [log in to unmask]
