4 ms·
̶C̶o̶m̶p̶u̶t̶e̶r̶s̶ ̶d̶o̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶n̶e̶e̶d̶ ̶n̶e̶t̶w̶o̶r̶k̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶f̶u̶n̶c̶t̶i̶o̶n̶.̶ ̶I̶t̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶p̶e̶r̶h̶a̶p̶s̶ ̶a̶n̶ ̶i̶n̶d̶i̶c̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶h̶o̶w̶ ̶t̶h
by donkeybeer 2y ago
̶C̶o̶m̶p̶u̶t̶e̶r̶s̶ ̶d̶o̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶n̶e̶e̶d̶ ̶n̶e̶t̶w̶o̶r̶k̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶f̶u̶n̶c̶t̶i̶o̶n̶.̶ ̶I̶t̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶p̶e̶r̶h̶a̶p̶s̶ ̶a̶n̶ ̶i̶n̶d̶i̶c̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶h̶o̶w̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶c̶o̶p̶y̶r̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶i̶n̶d̶u̶s̶t̶r̶y̶ ̶i̶m̶p̶l̶e̶m̶e̶n̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶c̶o̶p̶y̶r̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶e̶n̶f̶o̶r̶c̶e̶m̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶d̶i̶g̶i̶t̶a̶l̶ ̶w̶o̶r̶l̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶l̶i̶b̶r̶a̶r̶y̶ ̶n̶e̶e̶d̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶n̶e̶c̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶n̶e̶t̶w̶o̶r̶k̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶l̶e̶n̶d̶ ̶d̶i̶g̶i̶t̶a̶l̶ ̶c̶o̶p̶i̶e̶s̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶b̶o̶o̶k̶s̶.̶ ̶ ̶T̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶s̶a̶i̶d̶,̶ ̶I̶ ̶s̶t̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶k̶ ̶(̶i̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶y̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶a̶l̶r̶e̶a̶d̶y̶ ̶d̶o̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶i̶t̶)̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶y̶ ̶s̶h̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶k̶e̶p̶t̶ ̶a̶ ̶l̶o̶c̶a̶l̶ ̶c̶o̶p̶y̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶e̶x̶a̶m̶p̶l̶e̶ ̶P̶r̶o̶j̶e̶c̶t̶ ̶G̶u̶t̶e̶n̶b̶e̶r̶g̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶s̶u̶c̶h̶ ̶a̶r̶c̶h̶i̶v̶e̶s̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶c̶o̶p̶y̶r̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶t̶e̶n̶t̶.̶ ̶ ̶E̶d̶i̶t̶:̶ ̶s̶o̶ ̶I̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶a̶r̶t̶i̶c̶l̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶b̶l̶e̶m̶ ̶s̶e̶e̶m̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶m̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶f̶f̶e̶c̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶i̶r̶ ̶a̶c̶c̶o̶u̶n̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶l̶o̶g̶g̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶b̶o̶o̶k̶s̶ ̶l̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶e̶t̶c̶.̶ ̶T̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶s̶a̶i̶d̶ ̶a̶b̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶a̶n̶y̶ ̶d̶i̶g̶i̶t̶a̶l̶ ̶l̶i̶b̶r̶a̶r̶y̶ ̶b̶e̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶d̶o̶w̶n̶ ̶e̶x̶p̶l̶i̶c̶i̶t̶l̶y̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶i̶'̶d̶ ̶s̶a̶y̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶s̶t̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶a̶p̶p̶l̶i̶e̶s̶,̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶k̶e̶e̶p̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶l̶o̶c̶a̶l̶ ̶c̶o̶p̶i̶e̶s̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶s̶t̶u̶f̶f̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶u̶s̶e̶f̶u̶l̶.̶
So my comment is not relevant, and should be ignored. Managing the metadata of this scale is certainly no easy task without computer systems.
- shiandow 2y agoOne could of course try to keep the library, its 27 branches and its website up to date without connecting anything to the internet. But I think it's understandable why they chose not to.
- pinewurst 2y agoI think they're rightfully suspicious of what remains in their computers even not connected (knowingly) to the Internet.
- donkeybeer 2y agoYes I apologize, I had misunderstood. The computers main purpose was being used with the management of the metadata, there is no mention of book content itself on the network. Sorry.
- Arainach 2y agoThe Seattle Library has 27 locations and a million books, serving a city with 700,000+ people (and a larger metro area - I forget if you need to be a Seattle resident to get a card). To be able to query materials across the library system, handle reservations and item transfers, and so much more these computers absolutely need to be networked. Perhaps you meant "don't need to be connected to the Internet", but I would wager a majority of the library's patrons search the library's catalog online rather than coming in person. In the case of digital loans, moat patrons want to download their digital books onto their personal devices - over the internet, so clearly the library services need to talk to an online service.
- pinewurst 2y agoNo - pretty much anyone in the state can get a card via reciprocality.
- donkeybeer 2y agoI apologize, I had misunderstood the problem. The problem is the metadata not the actual books were managed on the computer systems. Sorry.
- nereye 2y ago> I forget if you need to be a Seattle resident to get a card Any resident of King County* can get an SPL (Seattle Public Library) card, due to a reciprocal agreement between SPL and KCLS (King County Library System). * with an exception for a couple of towns within KC which are not part of KCLS, from https://www.spl.org/using-the-library/get-started/get-started-in-english/en-get-started-with-a-library-card/en-library-card-application/reciprocal-agreements https://www.spl.org/using-the-library/get-started/get-starte...: "If you live, work, go to school or own property in King County (even outside the city of Seattle) you qualify for a free Seattle Public Library card through our reciprocal agreement with the King County Library System. (The only exceptions are the towns of Hunts Point and Yarrow Point, which are not part of the King County Library System.)". And indeed, as already mentioned in a sibling comment, most counties have reciprocal agreements with both SPL and other counties' library systems too.
- dunham 2y agoDigital lending (Libby/Hoopla) was down too, but they got that back up within a week or two. We are able to check out physical books, but can't return them. And we can't place new holds/requests for books to be sent to our branch.
- miki123211 2y agoI don't know what weird unicode tricks you did to. the text of your comment, but please keep in mind that such tricks significantly interfere with screen readers, and their use should perhaps be reconsidered in the future.
- eesmith 2y agoIn case you want to know, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strikethrough#Unicode https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strikethrough#Unicode