4 ms·

Storing books digitally may make them more available in the present, but it will also likely mean that they're be less available at some point in the future. Ph

Storing books digitally may make them more available in the present, but it will also likely mean that they're be less available at some point in the future. Physical libraries with physical books have proven they can last for centuries, sometimes for millennia. For all we know, none of our digital storage media lasts significantly longer than decades, and even to pull that off, you have to constantly invest in copying and duplicating your data. Hard drives of the seventies, floppy disks, countless numbers of tape formats, CDs have all gone obsolete or are in the process of getting obsolete and are only accessible with dedicated hardware that would be very expensive to replicate from scratch, if even possible. A book does not have to be decoded to be read; even microfilm is more secure than an SSD or spinning HD when it comes to readability in the future in a low-tech / no-tech / replicated tech scenario. When the grid comes down, tap water will become scarce and digital written literature will just vanish.

bell-cot 4y ago
THIS. Ask a real historian or research librarian about all the really important books that we know existed, but do not have, because there was no Devout Brothers of Document Preservation faithfully maintaining copies of them through the centuries.
RcouF1uZ4gsC 4y ago
> Storing books digitally may make them more available in the present, but it will also likely mean that they're be less available at some point in the future. Physical libraries with physical books have proven they can last for centuries, sometimes for millennia. I don’t k kw about paper books lasting millennia. If you want to preserve books for millennia, you should carve them onto clay tablets and then bake them. The resulting baked clay tablets are pretty durable, even compared to the best paper.
crazygringo 4y ago
First of all, this is what the Library of Congress is for. Sure it's not a bad idea to have one library with physical copies, or maybe even 2–3 or even 10, but we don't need thousands of them. But second, no, physical libraries generally don't last for centuries and certainly almost never for millenia. They get sold off, torn down, they burn down, and so on. On the other hand, you can keep an entire copy of Library Genesis on a home computer if you want. The sheer number of digital copies means none of this is going anywhere. And if the grid goes down and society is collapsing, then a collection of a good proportion of the world's books on your hard drive powered by a generator or solar is going to be infinitely more valuable than some physical library you have to hike for days to get to with a chance that raiders will kill you on the way. ;)
WalterBright 4y ago
The Vatican Library is full of old books that nobody has access to. The beauty of digital libraries is (if they are free) endless copies can be made. That's where real longevity stems from. Besides, to read one's digital library requires a tablet and a solar charger.
- derstander 4y ago
  > The beauty of digital libraries is (if they are free) endless copies can be made. That's where real longevity stems from. Unfortunately this is demonstrably not the case with libraries’ current digital offerings. Not only are endless copies not allowed to be made, they often are more costly and have a limited amount of borrowings allowed of them. https://www.wgbh.org/news/local-news/2020/01/06/inside-the-e-book-war-waging-between-libraries-and-publishers https://www.wgbh.org/news/local-news/2020/01/06/inside-the-e...
  - WalterBright 4y ago
    I know. If I was Prez, copyright would be eliminated entirely, or at least limited to 10 years.
    - derstander 4y ago
      If copyright was more reasonable, we could also have avoided the whole hullabaloo about Roald Dahl: those who want censored versions could have them, and those who want the originals could have those. I think we'd see a rise in small-run book-on-demand style publishing, which I have always had a soft spot for.
  - antibasilisk 4y ago
    Library Genesis doesn't seem to have this problem, curious
    - derstander 4y ago
      Neither does Sci-Hub. I'm certainly willing to advocate for copyright reform through legislative action, for instance, but of all the hills I could die on it's not the one I'd choose above all others with respect to monetary fines or imprisonment.

bell-cot 4y ago

THIS. Ask a real historian or research librarian about all the really important books that we know existed, but do not have, because there was no Devout Brothers of Document Preservation faithfully maintaining copies of them through the centuries.

RcouF1uZ4gsC 4y ago

> Storing books digitally may make them more available in the present, but it will also likely mean that they're be less available at some point in the future. Physical libraries with physical books have proven they can last for centuries, sometimes for millennia. I don’t k kw about paper books lasting millennia. If you want to preserve books for millennia, you should carve them onto clay tablets and then bake them. The resulting baked clay tablets are pretty durable, even compared to the best paper.

crazygringo 4y ago

First of all, this is what the Library of Congress is for. Sure it's not a bad idea to have one library with physical copies, or maybe even 2–3 or even 10, but we don't need thousands of them. But second, no, physical libraries generally don't last for centuries and certainly almost never for millenia. They get sold off, torn down, they burn down, and so on. On the other hand, you can keep an entire copy of Library Genesis on a home computer if you want. The sheer number of digital copies means none of this is going anywhere. And if the grid goes down and society is collapsing, then a collection of a good proportion of the world's books on your hard drive powered by a generator or solar is going to be infinitely more valuable than some physical library you have to hike for days to get to with a chance that raiders will kill you on the way. ;)

WalterBright 4y ago

The Vatican Library is full of old books that nobody has access to. The beauty of digital libraries is (if they are free) endless copies can be made. That's where real longevity stems from. Besides, to read one's digital library requires a tablet and a solar charger.

derstander 4y ago
> The beauty of digital libraries is (if they are free) endless copies can be made. That's where real longevity stems from. Unfortunately this is demonstrably not the case with libraries’ current digital offerings. Not only are endless copies not allowed to be made, they often are more costly and have a limited amount of borrowings allowed of them. https://www.wgbh.org/news/local-news/2020/01/06/inside-the-e-book-war-waging-between-libraries-and-publishers https://www.wgbh.org/news/local-news/2020/01/06/inside-the-e...
- WalterBright 4y ago
  I know. If I was Prez, copyright would be eliminated entirely, or at least limited to 10 years.
  - derstander 4y ago
    If copyright was more reasonable, we could also have avoided the whole hullabaloo about Roald Dahl: those who want censored versions could have them, and those who want the originals could have those. I think we'd see a rise in small-run book-on-demand style publishing, which I have always had a soft spot for.
- antibasilisk 4y ago
  Library Genesis doesn't seem to have this problem, curious
  - derstander 4y ago
    Neither does Sci-Hub. I'm certainly willing to advocate for copyright reform through legislative action, for instance, but of all the hills I could die on it's not the one I'd choose above all others with respect to monetary fines or imprisonment.