"This is a perfect time to cut a deal with Amazon: Amazon lets them index the text of all these books, and in return, Google sends tons of customers to Amazon's door. Putting the books in the search results wouldn't be any different than the search results already provided by Amazon, so there wouldn't be any copyright or lost-sales problems." - Aaron Schwartz.

The TeleRead take: Makes sense from a consumer perspective--as long as the two companies don't use their powers to gouge. That's the big if. Extensive cooperation, of course, might eventually invite anti-trust scrutiny.
posted by David Rothman at 10:10 AM | permanent link

Clay Shirkey is skeptical toward the Semantic Web because of the coordination and extent of agreement required to make syllogisms work.

If that's the case--I won't take sides--isn't it possible that a structured series of TeleRead-style national digital library systems could help overcome some of the issues he raises, at least in a library context? No panaceas here. Shirkey points out that because of differences in values, matters can get complicated. But perhaps with the right structure in place, the semantic Web would still be useful in areas where values and other fuzzy things didn't matter so much.

Related: MetaFilter posting.

(Shirkey item found via Ernie the Attorney.)
posted by David Rothman at 9:52 AM | permanent link

Are Tablet PCs overpriced? Sure! Microsoft has made a mess of what could have been a promising platform for e-books. Check out Tablet PC in trouble--Microsoft Blamed, from ZDNet.

The TeleRead take: Microsoft could also help the Tablet PC by worrying less about DRM as a holy cause and more about e-books as a way to spark interest in the TPC form factor. With no DRM at all or at least with easier-to-tolerate DRM, both e-books and the Tablet PC would be more attractive.

(ZDNet item found via Lockergnome.)
posted by David Rothman at 5:41 AM | permanent link

Now that shareholders have lost a fortune through investments in Barnes & Noble.com, the brick-and-mortar book chain is proposing a buyback of public shares to turn the online store into a wholly owned subsidiary.

In a related vein, here's an interesting little question--reflecting just speculation, no "inside" lowdown. With an improving economy, might it soon make sense for the the cyberstore to bring e-books back? Perhaps at more reasonable prices? And perhaps in the next six months or even sooner?

The disappearance of e-books from the dotcom was less a reflection on the medium than on managerial misjudgment at the dotcom that resulted in noncompetitive prices.

Granted, a revived Bares and Noble.Com might not have Amazon's nifty "inside the Book" search engine. But within the e-books area it could compete if lean enough, and if it made some intelligent decisions about formats--offering the PalmDigitalMedia variety, too, rather than just the more obnoxiously DRMed rivals such as Microsoft Reader and Adobe.

In case you're curious, Barnes and Noble.Com the company owns less than 30 percent of B&N.com the online store, with the actual B&N chain owning the rest. With the buyback, some analysts say the parent corporation could more easily blend in the cyber and real world operations. I'm not sure since the parent B&N is already calling the shots. But here's one possible scenario as I see it: Perhaps you could try out a book in a permanent or vanishing e-format through the cyberstore and get a credit toward an actual paper copy--or toward purchase of other books at a B&N near you.
posted by David Rothman at 4:35 AM | permanent link

Follow-up to our Slashdotted proposal for an E-Book Museum: Michael Hart can supply the Teletype machine he used to create the first texts for Project Gutenberg. Hint, hint, LOC?

Related: A blank $1 DVD can hold 10,000 Gutenberg books, containing almost the whole collection of PG content. Printed out, they would weigh as much as an elephant. Get a disk from Gutenberg and encourage friends, including those at your local library, to copy new disks for free. Great gift for the holidays! Email Michael Hart for a DVD if your connection isn't fast enough for you to download the image file. I'll update this item with the downloading address after I get it from Greg Newby, Michael's associate.

Update, 4:05 a.m., Saturday: Greg writes that the address will be http://ibiblio.org/gutenberg/pgdvd.iso. File size will be around 4.1 meg--a piece of cake if you have DSL or a cable modem. The address isn't quite ready as of this writing, and it may change anyway. So e-mail Greg if you have difficulty.

Update, 1 a.m., Nov. 9: Here's the latest.
posted by David Rothman at 11:29 AM | permanent link

People at Geek.com address that question, and certain posters knock DRM along the way.

The TeleRead take: Considering the low cost of e-book tech, especially without expensive proprietary DRM schemes, it's absolutely crazy that some publishers would think about charging more for e-books than p-books. Not the most sustainable business model. Why should e-books cost as much as or more than hardbacks, which you can share with friends and show off? No returns. No transportation. No copyright fees for public domain books. Low-cost e-book make up in actual revenue potential what they lack in the price of the individual unit. Price gouging was one reason why B&N flopped in the e-book business. Those people just could not compete with more clueful e-stores.

The true solution for publishers would be low-cost, international distribution of e-books, along with lobbying for well-stocked national digital libraries and the popularization of appropriate hardware through focused programs. (Geek.com item found via NetWorker's post on the eBook Community List.)
posted by David Rothman at 10:54 AM | permanent link

Itching to spend tax money to protect Hollywood, DC in 1999 created a National Intellectual Property Law Enforcement Coordination Council. Now the council is seeking public comment by Nov. 28, 2003, on its "agenda and mission."

The TeleRead take: How about more focus on the professional bootleggers--especially abroad--and less on creating Prohibition II? Intellectual property theft is deplorable. Just the same, are we about to witness the eventual rise of copyright bureaucracies that, like small-town cops with speed traps, will worry less about the law and due process and more about growing revenue? Meanwhile here's some immediate feedback for the council. Consider the prices that studios and book publishers are charging. In specific cases where the companies are gouging consumers, don't enforce as vigorously as you would otherwise. Similarly consider the fairness of DRM schemes. Prosecute violations of PalmDigital Media-DRMed books more vigorously than those of Microsoft-DRMed titles. Microsoft doesn't care about e-books as much as about the DRM cause, and the Draconian DRM reflects this 'tude.

Needless to say, a well-stocked national digital library system could help reduce the incentive for violating copyright. Just recently the RIAA sued a 12-year-old girl for bootlegged recordings; how soon until publishers go after kids for book-stealing?

(Found via the Politech list.)

Correction: We're big believers in copy editors, and, as a blog, rather than a newspaper, we missed having one this morning--along with the "l" in "public" in the headline above. Years ago I worked at newspaper whose wall was decorated with unwittingly off-color headlines. Perhaps someone needs to start a blog featuring memorable typos from around the Net--in the grand spirit of those New Yorker items. Oh, well, this will do for the moment.
posted by David Rothman at 10:29 AM | permanent link

Note: I've been pushing the Electronic Peace Corps idea--via articles in the Washington Post, National Review and elsewhere--for around two decades. At left is JFK advocating his version of the original Peace Corps. Can today's presidential candidates grasp the wisdom of fully updating the Corps idea for the Net era? - David Rothman

My friend Robert Drake left behind a legacy from his Peace Corps days in Morocco--hundreds and hundreds of wheelchairs and crutches, the handiwork of his students. Most were crippled young women, polio victims, and they ended up earning far more than their fathers ever had.

But when Robert flew home from Morocco in 1989, he was fretting about the wheelchair axles, which broke more often than he'd hoped. Even a master metalworker could make them only so strong.

Within a few years after returning to West Virginia, Robert hit on a solution. But he lacked an easy way of contacting his old students.

Sadly, too, he couldn't keep up easily with them as friends. Was Halima still prone to bad coughs? Had six-foot Saki been able to find a husband? Did Nezha still go for the romantic songs of the late Om Kalthoum, the icon of Arab music?

Fourteen years later Robert is plugged into the Internet, however, and therein could lie a solution. Let's create an Electronic Peace Corps, through which returned Peace Corps volunteers and others could share knowledge and skills with the citizens of developing countries.

Along the way, friendships with people in Morocco and the like could be more permanent. That would be good not just for the cause of peace, but also the cause of business, which depends on trust, and which places most people in the Third World at a distinct disadvantage, given their rickety phone systems and shortage of funds for travel.

The EPC idea is hardly new--I advocated such a plan in 1984 in the Washington Post and other newspapers, and on National Public Radio--but concept is timelier than ever. The idea could be a life-saver in an era of AIDS- and SARS-style epidemics. It could even be an airline-saver, in a limited sense, since facts could more easily catch up with false rumors that can harm the travel industry and others.

Simply put, the U.S. has some good, selfish reasons for encouraging the Third World to wire up--and providing it with both knowledge and infrastructure. Indeed, the verb "wire" is a little obsolete, given all the progress that has been made in wireless technology. Jungles, rivers and mountains aren't the same barriers they used to be, and, on top of that, the Net is moving in the direction of voice and video, not just traditional electronic mail.

Nonprofits such as Geekcorps now provide tech aid on the scene, and the actual Peace Corps and other organizations have recently started the Digital Freedom Initiative through which the corps will help developing countries share business and technical knowledge via computer. But apparently the DFI is still lacking some major elements of the 1984 plan for an Electronic Peace Corps, including, yes, the power of the EPC name. The goal should be a systematic way for many thousands of well-prepared Americans volunteers to offer expertise without having to leave home. Returned Peace Corps volunteers like Robert would be able to continue their good work and maintain friendships with the beneficiaries. Imagine, too, the opportunities for technically proficient retirees and others who might not be up to travel abroad.

Databases could store the names of volunteers, from which governments and nonprofits in developing countries could find those with appropriate skills. No, the EPC would not be a full substitute for volunteers in the field. But it could be extremely useful in lands too hazardous for large numbers of volunteers to be on the scene--for example, Iraq or Afghanistan. What's more, in cases where on-site work was safe, prospective volunteers could use the Net to audition from afar to work on the scene. Their prospective beneficiaries could get to know them, and vice versa.

No matter what the approach, we need to address genuine needs rather just dumping the technology, helter-skelter, into the hands of people in developing countries. Gadgetry should not simply be used for the enrichment of the local elite alone. Business development, agriculture and health should matter, and so should culture. An EPC could go along with another idea of mine--a network of national digital library systems that could strengthen local cultures while creating new opportunities for U.S. content providers. Cost of hardware is plummeting, and meanwhile the library systems could use such means as community centers and Internet cafes to acquaint rural villages with e-books and multimedia. On the scene and remotely, members of the Electronic Peace Corps could help. Too, an EPC over the long term could encourage the growth of Third World telecommuting to slow down the oft-disruptive migration of people from rural areas to already-overcrowded cities.

This Internet-era corps could operate either alongside or within the existing Peace Corps. What's more, it could coordinate efforts with similar Net-oriented agencies in other countries--bridging the gaps between urban elites and rural villages. Too, the EPC could encourage developing countries to start their own domestic electronic peace corps organizations. Let's spread the idealism around.

When I phoned Robert Drake in the Charleston, WV, area to discuss the EPC idea, he couldn't have been more enthusiastic. "Even the best relationships with people can be severed by distance," he said. Amid distractions in the States, Robert lost track of postal addresses following his return. "I just wish I'd been able to tell them how to strengthen the axles. The secret is to use the right kind of heat treatments, which I learned after I returned and went to work for an aluminum mill." And, he says, that's a fine example of why we need an Electronic Peace Corps. Some of the best solutions for the Third World can be found right at home in our daily lives, and what better way than an EPC to spread around the answers, whether about irrigation systems or broken wheelchair axles?
posted by David Rothman at 3:27 AM | permanent link

Phoned Sen. John Edwards' Net ops guy and got a call back in half an hour or so. Quite a contrast to Wesley Clark's more aloof campaign headquarters. Even key Clark bloggers can't get messages answered. Not the best omen in terms of the General's leadership qualities.

But back to Sen. Edwards' campaign. Turns out that the Edwards site is already moving to some extent in the direction I'd advocated--to bridge the gap between the Net campaign and the one in the Real World. I'd like the campaign to be open in a systematic, Slashdottish manner to policy ideas from the Net, and that's the way they're headed, aided by existing use of the endlessly versatile Slashdot code. Meanwhile, yes, I'm assured that the blog is closely monitored by key advisors, including policy director Robert Gordon.

If the Senator goes on record against Bono and ideally the DMCA, too, you can bet I'll switch because I like Edwards' priorities on other issues.

Meanwhile you can drop by Larry Lessig's blog where the Senator is guest-blogging. Before talking to the Edwards campaign, I shared my own copyright-related thoughts in Prof. Lessig's comments section. As I told Aaron Myers, the Net ops guy for Edwards, I'm not sure how many copyright questions the Senator will get because so many disgusted people have given up on politicians on Net issues. But if the Senator does speak up, he'll instantly win many friends online at the expense of his rivals.

What's more, assuming that Sen. Edwards takes a public-minded copyright position, he can use it with PTA moms and otherwise tie it in with his education priorities.

Senator, you want to run as a populist? Well, copyright is made to order. Just today Project Gutenberg founder Michael Hart and I were discussing how the copyright extension was rammed through while the nation was preoccuped with the Clinton impeachment. I'm not interested in eternally tormenting you about your past votes. Rather I want to know exactly what you'll do in the future to encourage Congress to fix the damage. And if you can come out for a well-stocked national digital library system, too, then so much the better.
posted by David Rothman at 6:16 PM | permanent link

In full here are two fresh bulletins from consumer tech activist James Love in which among other things he expresses concern over threats to the public domain from a new broadcast treaty proposal. The media aren't exactly swarming over this issue. A little conflict of interest?
posted by David Rothman at 10:37 AM | permanent link

At the very time when people in Germany, China and elsewhere are switching to Linux alternatives to Microsoft products, a little mystery remains. Why did WIPO cave in to U.S. demands--probably spurred by Microsoft and friends--to drop an Open Source-related meeting? IT Analysis has an article in The Register today briefly summing up the issue. Old news, but still a valuable reminder of how myopic and bought the international copyright establishment is.

Of course, over at TeleRead, we have our own uppity thoughts on WIPO's director general in the context of the war on the public domain. In his book Kamil Idris does a great Greedspeak act and loves to talk up the grand contributions of the big entertaintment conglomerates to global culture (neologism alert).

Early this month WIPO was supposed to be meeting on public domain-related issues involving broadcasting. Wonder how that turned out, and what may be ahead. A quick check at Google News didn't turn up any info, but I'll try to follow up.

A common thread, we suspect, runs between WIPO's cancellation of the Open Source meeting and the jeopardy in which it may place the public domain if certain U.S. interests prevail either now or later. In the article, IT Analysis notes that American representatives apparently complained that open source was inherently at odds with intellectual property rights. And the same lack of logic almost surely applies to the public domain, as the greedsters would see it--regardless of all the wealth that Walt Disney created from European PD classics.

Memo to presidential candidates: Care to pledge that if you're elected, libraries and free speech and government economy will matter more in your IP policies--and Microsoft and Hollywood less? Probably not. But here's the friendly little suggestion for the record.
posted by David Rothman at 9:50 AM | permanent link

As nongods, libraries can't read everything, but they can organize their collections well to help patrons--er, people--find what they need. E-books and digital libraries would make librarians' task easier. Check out some wisdom from a Nov. 1 post in Liberry Blooze. Key line: "If only we could organize a library based on each individual's personal interests...Digital library, anyone?" Thanks, Jonathan!
posted by David Rothman at 3:10 AM | permanent link

They're making a movie of Stephen King's Riding the Bullet. Is this the first time a flick has been based on an original e-book? And with so many e-books in the action genre--and some in the horror category, too!--could the better ones be good fodder for adventurous scriptwriters aiming for adaptations?

"Why e-books sell only $10 million or so a year" Department: About Bullet, a reader on Amazon.com says: "My main reason for writing the review is to keep you from the same mistake I did. The e-book is included in written form in the collection Everything's Eventual (as are the audio books LT's Theory of Pets and Blood+Smoke). You can't even print the e-book out to get the nice cover art. Keep your money. Buy Everything's Eventual. You'll get this nice little story plus 13 others...and it will look much nicer on your shelf than this will on your hard drive." Time for DRMed books at least to have printable art--something to show, something to share with friends?

(King item found via eBookAd.)
posted by David Rothman at 12:54 PM | permanent link

Update, 5:26 p.m.: Welcome, Slashdot readers! Do keep in mind that the proposed museum is not a substitute for the existing digital preservation project at the Library of Congress. Rather, to give just two examples, it would allow future generations to see what a Rocket eBook looked like--or watch a video of Michael Hart, telling how he first digitized books for the Net.

Jon Noring, the eBook Community list moderator and major proponent of Project Gramophone, this week flew to my territory, Washington, DC--as a member of a tech-related advisory committee for the Library of Congress.

Afterwards he and I met for the first time in person and saw one of the early gramophones, heard a sound recording of Woodrow Wilson, and watched an old video of Johnny Carson trading lines with Groucho Marx. And then we walked through the unseasonable heat to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, where, amid such sights as the Spirit of St. Louis and a menacing-looking V-2, an idea emerged. Why couldn't the Library or another prestigious organization create an International E-Book Museum?

E-books and other digital publications in the U.K. are already about to go into a national archive, and in fact the Brits and others have even shown an interest in the e-book technology of yore. Goodness knows, as some have pointed out, we already have enough virtual e-book museums--unwittingly created by the march of technology. Time for a real, physical one, with an Internet presence, too? Also, as Jon has suggested, the museum could go beyond artifacts to include old references to e-books. For example, visitors could see looped videotapes or CDs of excerpts of episodes of Star Trek and other programs or movies where e-books were mentioned.

Mightn't the industry itself sponsor the International E-Book Museum and donate hardware, software and representative content? Contrary to what Luddites and crypto Luddites may think, the industry already has a past. After years of mere theories and speculation, e-books actually went online in a meaningful way more than three decades ago through the imagination and diligence of Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, and perhaps the Museum could even include the terminal he used or at least an identical machine, as well as his videotaped recollections. It would be most helpful to collect the artifacts in a systematic way before it's too late.

I myself first wrote about e-books more than a dozen years ago, for a laptop magazine, after Sony came out with portable CD-ROM readers that could read reference works and The Library of the Future. Around that same time Voyager was publishing such goodies as The Complete Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by a Mac enthusiast named Douglas Adams--complete with the memorable matter-of-factness in Chapter 5: "It's a sort of electronic book. It tells you everything you need to know about anything. That's its job." More recently we've had such orphaned machines as the old Rocket eBook.

What a shame not to preserve them systematically. I'd hope that the Library of Congress or Smithsonian would show an interest, but if not, then perhaps this could work out at the Computer History Museum, which, alas, doesn't seem to care much about e-book hardware so far if CHM Web site is revealing. Given that we're talking about books, not just hardware, a Library of Congress effort would really make the most sense. Also I do think professionals should be involved from the start to eliminate the chances of specific vendors being favored or of this being just a tacky PR effort.

Such generosity toward a legitimate library or museum would be a good way for the industry to convince the understandably skeptical public that e-books are here to stay (uppity aside: of course a Universal Consumer Format would be another means to demonstrate a concern for permanence, and so would an understanding of the need to modify or repeal the DMCA's ban on DRM-circumventing backups by ordinary readers). Perhaps even more importantly, the museum would be a way to increase the chances of librarians and other archivists being able to deal--if inconveniently--with format obsolescence. It would nicely go along with LOC's plans for preservation of digital information as well as efforts elsewhere.

At LOC, the Smithsonian, the Computer Museum, the Open eBook Forum, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation or elsewhere, is anyone game? I've already registered ebookmuseum.org and will gladly turn it over to an appropriate organzation with a genuine interest in a nonhucksterish execution of the idea. Of course, ebookmuseum.gov or loc.gov/ebookmuseum would be still better. The museum could be housed physically within the main library building or an annex. Remember, books are the library's main medium, and in terms of knowledge imparted by individual books, no distinction exists between paper and electrons. Especially if associated the Library of Congress, an E-Book Museum could advance the medium through sponsorship of awards for superior hardware and software (but not for actual content, since one would hope that judges associated with organizations such as the National Book Foundation would eventually come around and evaluate books by content rather than medium).

Detail One: ebookmusuem.org now shows a commercial search page coming up, courtesy of the domain registration service. No strokes please, librarians. The commercial page has nothing to do with the proposed project or TeleRead. I've already asked the registration service to redirect visitors to this blog item, and I'm assuming that my preference will apply in the next few days. In the same vein, please note that ebookmuseum.org hasn't any relationship with the EbookMuseum Marketplace, which holds the .com version of the address and is nothing more than a product directory.

Detail Two: Michael Hart recently assured me that James Billington, Librarian of Congress, is more open-minded about e-books than previously.

Detail Three: I'd settle for a "National" E-Book Museum. However, if the Library's paper book collection is international, surely the E-Book Museum should be, and I like the idea of actually going so far as to include "International" in the name. Perhaps this could even be a joint project with national libraries in the U.K, France, Japan, China, Australia and elsewhere.

Irony of the day--and a very germane one: Check out Related Links within Bruce Sterling's Dead Media project. You'll find that many of the links are obsolete. Just one more argument for letting museum or library pros handle the e-book museum project.

Update, 10:42: Ebookmuseum.org now points to this blog item.

Related to the UK proposal: In 1992 I wrote in the evolving TeleRead proposal as published in Computerworld: "The way this would come about is that the government would begin to require all material longer than 10,000 words to be in digital form in order to be copyrighted. The government would phase in this requirement gradually, perhaps with a voluntary program. Many authors and publishers would rush to take advantage of TRnet, seeing it as a new market; after all, most publishers today are already using computers to set type. As for undigitized material shorter than 10,000 words, scanners could pick up the images." Since I wrote those words, I've suggested that full participation in TeleRead could stay voluntary since marketplace pressures would encourage particpation--what with royalties being rewarded. And of course the TeleRead catalogue could link back to publishers' own collections. But looking back, I still do like the idea of mandatory item-by-item electronic registration of material published originally in e-format. Also, in almost all cases, free public access would be required if copyright weren't renewed--an idea that I suspect is very much in line with the spirit of the Eric Eldred Act proposed by Larry Lessig.

Related to Gramophone: Project Gramophone: How to free older sound recordings from the vaults, first published by TeleRead, has made it into French via quotes in a good, informative article on Transfert.net. Not sure if the URL works, but give it a shot and then use the Google translation tool.
posted by David Rothman at 3:21 AM | permanent link

OK, e-book standards at the consumer level would be fine. But do we really want them centered around oppressive, DRMish formats from Microsoft, Adobe and their ilk? A new report from Shore Communications praises the "the consolidation and standardization of eBook platforms, formats and rights management..." Number of pages? 25. Cost? $397 or almost $16 a page. Bill Gates oughta love this. Wonder if he or like-minded folks paid for it. Of course, high-priced reports from consultants are nothing new, but the existence of this $16-a-page baby sure impresses me as amusing--or perhaps not so--in the context of its topic.

Detail: Shore says: "We recognize that the value of premium content is amplified by having an ongoing updates and a relationship with the analyst writing research." But given Senior Analyst's Jean Bedford's apparent conclusions in the DRM and format areas, I question the cost-benefit ratio. Oh, well, via the loathsome PDF format, you can read the T of C for free along with at least some of an executive summary.

What's more, maybe there's a little hope. A Shore analyst, John Blossom, uses the phrase "copyright zealot" in a discussion of the Amazon search engine and actually does seem to be open to new business models. It's disappointing, however, that the report from Jean Bedford apparently rejoices over "consolidation" rather than calling for a UCF with DRM Lite.

Memo to Shore: Some of the biggest names in the e-book biz read this blog. I'll graciously not charge you even if this exposure leads to orders for your report. And if somehow, contrary to the PR for the report, Ms. Bedford does favor a UCF, then I hope that Shore will say so outright and rather publicly. The present patchwork of proprietary formats, even and especially if focused on Microsoft, Adobe and PalmDigitalMedia, is bad news for both the industry and consumers. (Reminder: PalmDigitalMedia's DRM is the least oppressive by far, judging from feedback from readers. Credit where due!)
posted by David Rothman at 3:51 PM | permanent link

Book Magazine is shutting down. Yet another indication of the need for a well-stocked national digital library system?

You can't take the public's love of books for granted--no more than you can take good radio for granted. Somehow the message needs to get through to politicians that books are valuable in themselves and should not be subjected to maniacal theories of "efficiency" from info-economists. Fritter away money? No. But let's not let the bookstore model crush the Carnegie one.

(Originally found via an old Library Stuff item. Meant to get to this earlier.)
posted by David Rothman at 3:03 PM | permanent link

"I just watched '60 Minutes' and its treatment of copyright infringement in the movie industry. It was as if Jack Valenti had written this report--a screed that didn't even pretend to examine the nuances of the issue." - Dan Gillmor's eJournal blog for the San Jose Mercury News.

The TeleRead take: Ever wonder how the major presidential candidates get away without taking tough stands against the DMCA and copyright extension? Wonder no more.
posted by David Rothman at 3:05 AM | permanent link

The place: Fossil, Oregon (population 450).

The library: A 4,500-book public library housed in a former fire-engine garage.

The problem: Not enough money to keep the place open more than six hours a week--even after a fund-raising effort by enthusiastic citizens. "One out of every four people in town," reports NPR, "is a dues-paying member of a group called Friends of the Fossil Library."

The hoped-for solution: A new library district to raise taxes, or perhaps a partnership with a near-by library system.

What a well-stocked national digital library system in the TeleRead vein could do: Not save the Fossil library single-handedly, but use e-books to provide infinitely more reading choices to Fossil's citizens. At the same time, with lower acquisitions costs and perhaps a special grants program, more money would be available for a full- or part-time librarian to show the community how to use national resources for local purposes. The librarian could also help create some local electronic resources, such as digitized histories of Wheeling County, electronic genealogical records and a blog with news on the library, the local civic groups and the town in general.

Message to any local skeptics: Do you really want your children to grow up in town with a library with only 4,500 books? Don't leave town. Instead build up existing library resources now and lobby in the long term for a TeleRead-style approach to bring in more books and blend them in with schools, too, not just the library.

(Photo: Wheeler County Courthouse in Fossil, as seen on a USDA site. NPR, source of the facts on the library, via LIS News, offers photos of the former garage and other local sights.)

Update, Nov. 3: Sure enough, some people over at LIS News are acting as if it's evil to discuss TeleRead in the context of Fossil. As through a well-stocked national digital library system couldn't free up more money for buildings and story-telling hours and the rest--by reducing the need for local purchase of national-level content and by promoting efficiencies such as a UCF. No wonder vendors can now roll over librarians. In line with the stereotypes of the profession, too many librarians are caught up in the details of the moment rather than considering the broad long-term picture. Luckily some librarians already understand reality, and more will as time goes on and the true fossils retire. If librarians care about good reading online--for the growing number of Net-smart children--then they need to join the 21st century.
posted by David Rothman at 1:44 AM | permanent link

Librarians are safe drivers and rank 39th on a list of 40 occupations, in terms of speeding violations. Ties in with my theory that they're among the best people to save valuable bytes within the info glut. Of course, some librarians can be mighty stubborn about changing from an analogue to a digital orientation, but right now that's with good reason, given the present uncertainties about e-book formats and the rest.

And speaking of librarians: Congratulations to LISNews on its 4th birthday.

And about formats: Don't forget that Nick Bogaty, executive director of the Open eBook Forum, will be a guest on the E-Bookworm show on Nov. 20. Sure would be great if people politely asked him for the details that OeBF Prez Steve Potash danced around--when questioned about OeBF's plans or lack thereof for a standard consumer format. Hey, Nick, really: Don't you want standardization so e-books sales can exceed $10 or $12 million a year and the medium can be trusted even by those safe-driving librarians?

(Thanks, Steven, for the safety link.)
posted by David Rothman at 2:46 AM | permanent link