I am not sure mass digitization is so impossible if
the international library community is involved.
Gates/Google et al want to do this as a commercial
venture. We already have had list members give links
to outstanding digital libraries that are accessible
on-line. The Gutenberg project has word processed the
texts of many books - some rare or scarce.
A complete, central registry of digitized books is a
first step. Patrons can be made to pay for the
digitizing. When in the past I ordered microfilm from
the British Library I paid one fee if the book had
already been copied onto a master microfilm and a
higher fee if it had not.
The most fragile items can be digitized using a
digital camera, which I find much faster than
scanning.
The question is, are libraries willing to do this,
even if they receive a royalty each time an item they
digitized is used? Every journey starts with a single
step, and a single step by 100,000 libraries adds up
to a considerable distance.
C.J. Scheiner
--- Edward Levin <edwardlevin@HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:
Very few (if any) libraries have the financial
resources to scan or
microfiche all of their rare materials, if indeed
this could even be done
without risking damage to their more fragile
materials.
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