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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