Blog 7

The articles presented this week seem to all center around change: a change from the physical to the ethereal. In the speech transcription, Watt recalls nostalgically of his days as an undergrad where he viewed the library as somewhat of a level playing field. He, a budding researcher, alongside his well-learned professors, toiling away among the collections of their university library. It all sounds lovely until the issue of money is brought up. It is seldom an issue of which we like to speak, but it is unavoidable: some universities have more money than others and thus, more and perhaps better resources. With the online archives and resources available to us today, I'd happily forego Watt's nostalgia.

But!

Money. Sadly, money matters on the internet as well. The internet is a human invention and humans are rather big fans of money. Also, legalities are an issue, particularly those surrounding copyright. Copyright is a strange thing and as one sees in the IMSLP review, regulated differently in different places. IMSLP is a terrific resource, but I do recall when using it that it is a bit hard to navigate and a bit frustrating that so many pieces, 20th century pieces especially, weren't available due to copyright. That said, it is still a fantastic resource and a tremendous idea.

In the articles dealing with Google, I have some differing opinions. I doubt in Google's early days that they could have predicted the company would become the superpower it is today. While it is unfortunate they seemed to abandon the projects such as Google books, I can't say I would expect anything different from anybody. It's a wonderful idea, a noble one even. Even though librarians might have felt betrayed and Google could have been a bit more (a lot more) clear in their intentions, they are, after all, a business and they like money. It seems Google books isn't where the money was. But, as we see in the Baio and the Lepore, there is a light: The Internet Archive. This is a wonderfully bold endeavor and indeed a noble one. To archive all of the internet's information is an incredible goal and if achieved (though it is always growing), I believe the founder will one-up the Greeks.