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I think the balance should be something like: - most libraries going the “modern” route the author doesn’t like, because that’s what most people really need fr
by HEmanZ 4y ago
I think the balance should be something like:
- most libraries going the “modern” route the author doesn’t like, because that’s what most people really need from a library
- some libraries keeping the “old school” approach for aesthetic and conservation reasons
- hopefully one or two “super preserver” libraries that are stockpiling and preserving books just to be an exhaustive source of in case e.g the collapse of civilization or the occasional importance of some physical copy to future researchers.
Does anyone know if #3 is happening?
I’m totally fine with this, it seems the only practical approach going forward. And I say this as someone who loves physical books and probably owns more than I’ll ever be able to read (over 10k at this point, I have a problem).
- Swizec 4y agoAren't the various national libraries of the world attempting to do #3? If I remember high school correctly, the idea of those libraries is to keep at least 1 copy of every book published in that nation.
- GoodbyeMrChips 4y ago[dead]
- gpm 4y ago#3 sounds like a reference library and/or a rare books library.
- Burper 4y ago> Does anyone know if #3 is happening? I'd like to think denizens of HN would be aware of the existence of legal deposit libraries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_deposit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_deposit
- mdp2021 4y agoWelcome Burper. Legal deposit libraries are relatively rare - they can be e.g. one every 10 or 50 mil ppl, and sometimes the mandated time span of retention can be very limited. It is not granted that this practice will increase instead of decreasing or transforming.
- JohnFen 4y agoNone of those address the use case of regular people who want to read a physical book.
- crazygringo 4y agoYou could argue that #3 is the Library of Congress. And to a smaller extent (not everything, but all the main stuff), university collections at places like Harvard and Yale.
- onecommentman 4y agoOr expand the coordination and collection mandate of the Federal Depository Library Program to include all physically published materials across all participating libraries, so that at least X (3?) libraries have a physical copy of any given published item in their collection/archives. https://www.gpo.gov/how-to-work-with-us/agency/services-for-agencies/federal-depository-library-program https://www.gpo.gov/how-to-work-with-us/agency/services-for-... And develop a network of antiquarians/collectors who place a list of their private holdings in some shared database as a final resource for researchers. Someone is buying those deacquisitioned materials…