BOOK REVIEW - The Great Digitization
Mike
Polastron � 2009 Inner Traditions ISBN: 979-1-59477-243-6 192
pages Paperback $16.95 (U.S.) www.InnerTraditions.com
The translator of this volume (originally published in French � 2006
by Editions Denoel) acknowledges that the chances are good that this
book will be obsolete by the time it hits the shelves. Jon E. Graham
has translated an earlier book by this same author (Books on Fire). I
have found his translations to be easy to read.
M. Polastron examines, in depth, the rationale for digitized books;
the reasons for opposition to the idea; the benefits to be derived
from such digitization; and the progress, or lack thereof, in
attaining the goals. How does this affect the Pagan community? Well,
depending on you attitude towards the availability of research (both
pre-Gardnerian and modern) this cold be seen as an immense benefit.
How many times have you seen a reference to some out-of-print work,
and wished you could check the reference for yourself? A virtual
library would make that far easier (and less expensive) to do � even
if you have to pay for your access.
As we approach the idea of digitized, virtual libraries we see the
rapid growth in hand-held technology which allows an individual to
access books on-line almost anywhere in the Western (and many parts of
the eastern) world. On the other hand, someone must pay to put those
books on-line, as well as verifying the accuracy of the texts. Add to
that the bewildering interpretations of copyright around the globe,
mix in the declining use of brick and mortar libraries, throw in a
dash of vandalism against physical libraries (all too seldom reported
in the world press), and the rapid obsolescence of the technologies in
use, and you have a recipe for a disaster. There are no easy
solutions, whether you are looking for access to the writing of Plato,
or of J. K. Rowling.
Pagans have an additional set of problems, in that interest in the
written underpinnings of our belief system are extremely specialized �
scholars looking far back � or very general � current �authorities�
expounding their often unsubstantiated beliefs. In the Western world,
we represent a tiny fraction of total readers, so our ability to
support on-line availability of texts is negligible.
Decisions about what books are to be digitized are made on the basis
of several factors, not least of which are matters of prestige,
availability of original sources material;, and the legal
repercussions. Such decisions are often made by bureaucrats who have
little true understanding the issues involved.
In the chapter �An All-Horizon Inventory�, M. Polastron provides a
listing of more than 30 websites devoted to the digitizing of books
(not all of which, unfortunately, are currently active, and some of
which are only available in non-English formats). Or, for simple ease
of navigation you can access the same information at www.polastron.com/notesLGN.html
. Before going there, however, you really should read this book to
get an understanding of what is involved in making the information on
those sites available.
Personally, I like the feel of a printed book in my hands and always
will (plus, I have the advantage of not needing to worry about
changing technologies. As long as my eyes and brain work, I can
access the information). However, for sheer portability and amount of
information accessible, it is obvious that on-line sources are the
wave of the future. Unlike King Canute the Great, I know better than
to oppose the tide.
Take the time to read this book. Then make the time to talk with your
local, state, and regional librarians to find out what the plans are
for making materials available for digitizing. Be involved.
Baird Stafford
<d6771b58-cf32-4582...@a21g2000yqc.googlegroups.com>,
Mike <gleaso...@comcast.net> wrote:
<snip>
> Personally, I like the feel of a printed book in my hands and always
> will (plus, I have the advantage of not needing to worry about
> changing technologies. As long as my eyes and brain work, I can
> access the information). However, for sheer portability and amount of
> information accessible, it is obvious that on-line sources are the
> wave of the future. Unlike King Canute the Great, I know better than
> to oppose the tide.
The constant change of technologies is the major reason I don't think
digital libraries, as they stand now, will endure. Print has lasted
since the fifteenth century in the West because, no matter how the
technologies involved in production evolved, the end product remained
accessible *without* having to buy new hardware and software every other
year.
<snip>
Blessed be,
Baird
--
In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice
there is. -Yogi Berra
B Sellers
> In article
> <d6771b58-cf32-4582...@a21g2000yqc.googlegroups.com>,
> Mike <gleaso...@comcast.net> wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
>> Personally, I like the feel of a printed book in my hands and always
>> will (plus, I have the advantage of not needing to worry about
>> changing technologies. As long as my eyes and brain work, I can
>> access the information). However, for sheer portability and amount of
>> information accessible, it is obvious that on-line sources are the
>> wave of the future. Unlike King Canute the Great, I know better than
>> to oppose the tide.
>
> The constant change of technologies is the major reason I don't think
> digital libraries, as they stand now, will endure. Print has lasted
> since the fifteenth century in the West because, no matter how the
> technologies involved in production evolved, the end product remained
> accessible *without* having to buy new hardware and software every other
> year.
>
Hear! Hear!
In addition some of the digital schemes have been able to wipe out
the contents of a digital reader along with all the notes the
students have
made. Private tyranny over paid for wares.
> <snip>
>
> Blessed be,
> Baird
>
later
bliss
Gale
No one seems to archive digitized materials properly! I'll note from my
day job that, while I can (obviously) keep all the materials I produce
for my students and place on-ine, I have to start over with course
structure if I don't teach a course within a calendar year of its last
go-around -- and, of course, have to find where I've put the digital
versions of all those notes.
This is at a university, where they supposedly care about such things --
in the commercial world, does anything that lacks a 'market' last?
--
Blessed Be,
Gale
poetry, fiction, essays at http://www.capjewels.com/
"Above all remember this: that magic belongs as much to the heart
as to the head and everything which is done, should be done from
love or joy or righteous anger." Susanna Clarke, The Ladies of Grace Adieu
Dirk Bruere at NeoPax
a) Obsolete formats
b) Obsolescence of readers (anyone for 8" floppies?)
c) Almost all digital media has a life no longer than 10 years. That
includes flash, HDDs, DVDs, CDs etc. Even ones intended for archive are
supposed to last only 100 years (unproven, of course).
There is tech on the horizon that could store data for a billion years,
but not yet.
FFF
Dirk
http://www.transcendence.me.uk/ - Transcendence UK
http://www.theconsensus.org/ - A UK political party
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/onetribe - Occult Talk Show
Dirk Bruere at NeoPax
Yowie
news:7iil9eF...@mid.individual.net
Chipping the text into stone seems to stand the test of (human) time :-)
Yowie
--
If you're paddling upstream in a canoe and a wheel falls off, how many
pancakes can you fit in a doghouse? None, icecream doesn't have bones.
Baird Stafford
"Yowie" <yowie9644....@yahoo.com.au> wrote:
<snip>
> Chipping the text into stone seems to stand the test of (human) time :-)
So does baking it in clay - and it's a great deal easier!
Dirk Bruere at NeoPax
All to do with the chemical and mechanical stability of the medium, and
redundancy of encoding. A stone tablet is not a very high information
density per kg.
An iron atom in a carbon nanotube is:
http://newscenter.lbl.gov/feature-stories/2009/06/03/billion-year-ultra-dense-memory-chip/
"When it comes to data storage, density and durability have always moved
in opposite directions - the greater the density the shorter the
durability. For example, information carved in stone is not dense but
can last thousands of years, whereas today�s silicon memory chips can
hold their information for only a few decades. Researchers with the U.S.
Department of Energy�s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley
Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkeley have smashed this
tradition with a new memory storage medium that can pack thousands of
times more data into one square inch of space than conventional chips
and preserve this data for more than a billion years!..."