Andy Poggio on 04/19/2000 12:33:51 PM

Please respond to Andy Poggio

To:	altintdev@webtv.net, jjdeneen@ricochet.net

Subject:

Re:   20 Apr and 27 Apr Agendas bet some people said the same thing about stone tablets to when he talked about printing the Bible and other books. stone tablets do "inspire a certain presumption of in me; books typically do not.) For an institution like the Library of Congress, I believe their primary goals should be preservation and access. Digitizing serves both goals well. Once in digital form, further perfect copies are possible indefinitely. As for access, books require physical proximity -- something the vast majority of the country lacks when it comes to the Library of Congress. Digital info is increasingly location-independent. To Billington I would say: "You don't want to be one of those mindless Luddites who assume that because something is old, it is good. Reverence comes from the content, not the medium." Sincerely, --andy Andy Poggio Andy.Poggio@eng.sun.com Copy to: altintdev@webtv.net, jjdeneen@ricochet.net, eric.armstrong@eng.sun.com, COPPERNOLL@bootstrap.org, Jon.Bosak@eng.sun.com, acheyer@verticalnet.com, bill.daul@zoomon.com, engelbart@bootstrap.org, gust@NouveauSystems.com, hoffmann@sri.com, leei@ai.sri.com, tanya@foresight.org, tedk@wdi.disney.com, eekim@eekim.com, rlang@ai.sri.com, hlehtman@iftf.org, pmaglio@almaden.ibm.com, jackpark@verticalnet.com, peterson@foresight.org, andy.poggio@eng.sun.com, Jeff.Rulifson@eng.sun.com, ngscott@arch.stanford.edu, warren@muse.com, rowelch@attglobal.net, shinya@indigo.co.jp, yeemailbox@yahoo.com, pdfernhout@kurtz-fernhout.com, frode@liquidinformation.com Memorandum Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2000 11:50:43 -0700 From:   John J. Deneen, jjdeneen@ricochet.net X-Accept-Language: en To:     Alternative Interface Subject:   Re:   20 Apr and 27 Apr Agendas 7bit Library of Congress Will Not Digitize Books???? Billington elaborated on why the Library will not put books online during the question and answer session. "The rationale is two fold. We have so much special format material that nobody has seen that it is more important to get those out." He added that the Library is more concerned with "rare pamphlets" than "full books". "Secondly, behind this ... is an implicit belief [that books] are not going to be replaced, and should not be replaced." "There is a difference between turning pages and scrolling down," he said. "There is something about a book that should inspire a certain presumption of reverence." "We should be very hesitant ... that you are going to get everything you want electronically." "You don't want to be one of those mindless futurists," said Billington, "who sit in front of a lonely screen." "It is isolating. It is a lonely thing." In contrast, "libraries are places, a community thing." "It is dangerous to promote the illusion that you can get anything you want by sitting in front of a computer screen." He described this as "arrogance" and "hubris". He added that while electronic books may succeed commercially, they are "seductive." http://www.techlawjournal.com/educ/20000415.htm Alternative Interface wrote: re: a Picture Thanks All, Let me show you this picture and discuss how it can help a marketing effort. Best Regards, Joe Alternative Interface Devices. Improve Accessibility and Utility of the WWW... Sincerely, John J. Deneen jjdeneen@ricochet.net Copy to: altintdev@webtv.net, jjdeneen@ricochet.net, eric.armstrong@eng.sun.com, COPPERNOLL@bootstrap.org, Jon.Bosak@eng.sun.com, acheyer@verticalnet.com, bill.daul@zoomon.com, engelbart@bootstrap.org, gust@NouveauSystems.com, hoffmann@sri.com, leei@ai.sri.com, tanya@foresight.org, tedk@wdi.disney.com, eekim@eekim.com, rlang@ai.sri.com, hlehtman@iftf.org, pmaglio@almaden.ibm.com, jackpark@verticalnet.com, peterson@foresight.org, andy.poggio@eng.sun.com, Jeff.Rulifson@eng.sun.com, ngscott@arch.stanford.edu, warren@muse.com, rowelch@attglobal.net, shinya@indigo.co.jp, yeemailbox@yahoo.com, pdfernhout@kurtz-fernhout.com, frode@liquidinformation.com