Finished the green packet

Richard E. Rubin, Information Technologies in the Twentieth Century

Not much to report here. I did read with amusement the part about microphotography, imagining what Baker would say. The article helped clarify to what extent the government was a player in several big technology movements. And I have to confess that I learned a lot from the Internet/Web section. Most of the article seemed to focus on that, in fact-- lucky me!

William Y. Arms, Libraries, Technology, and People and Innovation and Research

Already seems quite outdated. I did appreciate his list of things that are different in a digital library—it’s a nice summary. Most of what he says about digital libraries seems mostly true, but I do question a few things. I’m not sure about his claim that digital libraries are (or can be) less expensive than traditional libraries. Arms states that library buildings are expensive, but if we want to make even digital libraries accessible to all, we still need the bricks and mortar. It also seems to me that the equipment will need constant, expensive upgrades. We need faster computers, computers with more disk space, and more of them. The cost of storage may be going down, but our needs for it, I’d guess, are growing at at least the same rate. It’s not clear what’s around the corner in digital technology, but if the past is any indicator, something new is just around the corner, and it’s still expensive. Archiving and preservation are more expensive in the digital world. Not to say that we shouldn’t have digital libraries, just that I’m not sure that reduced cost will be realized to the extent suggested here.

I think it’s interesting and notable that most digital library research is undertaken by non-libraries and non-library workers. It seems important that we have a stronger say in how these libraries evolve, but I’m also not sure where the funding would come from to allow libraries to have more time and staff for research and innovation. Also interesting is the role that government funding had in supporting research only in the computer science field.

What computer is he using that has such a readable screen? Arms says, “Until recently, few people were happy to read from a computer” (11). Five years later, I think it’s still true that most people prefer to read on paper.