The dream child of Robert Darnton, the historian and university librarian at Harvard is being built. Announced last December, and funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society has begun planning the creation of a
centralized, digitized public library that would contain all of the country’s books, images, and archival materials, and be accessible to anyone with an Internet connection. It would be like having the Library of Congress—plus every local library branch and museum and archive in the country—right on your laptop, smartphone, or tablet. Columbia Journalism Review
You can find the latest DLAP information here where input from stakeholders and the community at large is being solicited in a wiki. Notes from planning sessions have been published by John Palfrey at his Berkman Center blog.
Please turn the page.
The Republic of Letters is an idea from the 18th C and the Age of Enlightenment. It was envisioned as a
realm with no police, no boundaries, and no inequalities other than those determined by talent. Anyone could join it by exercising the two main attributes of citizenship, writing and reading. Writers formulated ideas, and readers judged them. Thanks to the power of the printed word, the judgments spread in widening circles, and the strongest arguments won. New York Review of Books
Re-envisioned in the DLAP project, one could say a neo Republic of eLetters is upon us.
We have seen some recent diaries appearing on the R&BLers making the connection between literature and money and power.
The Political Economy of Book Publishing by heathlander, Parts I and II
Library Employees Fired for Censorship in Kentucky by Heartland Liberal
R&BLers: Pulitzers & Publishing Trends by Limelite
Boycott Orson Scott Card by OllieGarkey with a reply, On censorship, versus refusal to read. by i like bbq.
We're aware that Republicans and conservatives have long been anti-intellectual, have been waging class war on public institutions designed to level the economic playing field, such as public schools and public libraries, and are out to drown free and open access to information in the bathtub whether that access is via the airwaves and NPR or the Internet.
Reading is, was, and shall remain a political act. But that very act is changing away from the traditional media to the electronic media, away from easier control by the few and toward lesser control for the many.
Success of the DPLA hinges primarily on reaching an accommodation with copyright protection that has undergone considerable change since the late 90s, veering more in favor of individual property rights and away from the balance between private profit and the public welfare conceived by the Founding Fathers. Since 1998, America has moved away from the warm embrace and high principles of democracy and cozied up to the cold shoulder and bags of cash of corporate capitalism.
When it comes to digitization, access to our cultural heritage generally ends on January 1, 1923, the date from which great numbers of books are subject to copyright laws. It will remain there—unless private interests take over the digitizing, package it for consumers, tie the packages up by means of legal deals, and sell them for the profit of the shareholders.
Where once 28 (14 + renewal of 14 more) years seemed enough time to protect the interests of authors, now it lasts as long as the life of the author plus seventy years. Consequently,
When it comes to digitization, access to our cultural heritage generally ends on January 1, 1923, the date from which great numbers of books are subject to copyright laws.
Reformation of our copyright law, or highly complex alternative arrangements among publishers, authors, authors' estates, and other rights holders will be needed if the DPLA is to be more than just an archive and fulfill the dream of being a research library with open access to information for all. We see the first battles taking place in the area of e-Lending of books -- a subject worthy of a separate diary.
As a community of readers and book lovers, I'm sure the range of opinions on how best to build the DPLA and how best to make our country a Republic of e-Letters in the Enlightened sense, will be wide and vehement. I hope to read them in the comments below.
New Series Announcements
I am in negotiation with two R&BLers for new series, both in development. mdmslle is developing one on "screenplays from books" and billssha is working on "my favorite authors/books." R&BLers can look forward to them in the near future, with luck, at least one starting this weekend. Thank you, brave Editors!
Looking for Editors
Mystery is a genre that really needs its own series. In fact, there are other genres that need representation on a weekly basis: thriller/action and graphic/comics.
R&BLers also deserves an on-going series devoted to reviews of current fiction, not to mention a conversation cafe on the classics. Where are our arguments about the Western Literary Canon?
Is there any interest among our members in political books specifically, and non-fiction (history, biography, special interests like photography and art books)? This is a political blog and elections are in the offing -- topical, pertinent, and important.
More esoteric, but who knows among our Followers, is antiquarian and out-of-print books that you don't want to forget, or let us forget about. Tell us what those books are and why they're on your shelves.
In fact, it would be great to hear every one of our Followers tell the community about their personal libraries -- how it came into being, where its focus is, what you consider before adding a volume to your collection. If you have an idea for a new series or wish to write a casual diary for the Group, please message me.
Readers & Book Lovers Series Schedule
DAY |
TIME (EST/EDT) |
Series Name |
Editor(s) |
SUN |
3:00 PM |
Science, Math, and Statistics Books |
plf515 |
SUN |
9:30 PM |
SciFi/Fantasy Book Club |
quarkstomper |
MON |
8:00 AM |
And the Winner Is. . . |
88kathy |
MON |
11:00 AM |
eReader Cafe |
Dichro Gal |
TUE |
Noon |
The Mad Logophile (bi-weekly) |
Purple Priestess |
TUES |
8:00 PM |
Readers & Book Lovers Newsletter |
Limelite |
WED |
7:00 AM |
WAYR? |
plf515 |
WED |
8:00 PM |
Bookflurries: Bookchat |
cfk |
THU |
11:00AM |
Books for Young Adults and Children (BYAC) |
Dichro Gal |
THU |
8:00PM |
Write On! |
SensibleShoes |
FRI |
9:00 AM |
Books That Changed My Life |
etbnc, aravir |
SAT |
9:00 PM |
Books So Bad They're Good |
Ellid |
Intermittent Diaries |
SUN |
? |
Justice, Not Charity |
Runaway Rose, allie123 |
NOTE: Though not part of R&BLers Weekly Magazine Series, please look for "Indigo Kalliope: Poems From the Left" by various authors republished here every WED NOON ET by
aravir.
NFTT Groups Challenge Fund Drive Update
As you probably know, NFTT has committed to raising $100,000, which would provide 600 CARE packages to those overseas. Meteor Blades has issued a challenge to DK4 groups to raise a certain amount of money, based on the membership of the group by May 10th. Our goal is $3000.
aravir has issued a new challenge to the Group -- Of diaries published to R&BLers, we are asking Followers to contribute $1/diary starting from this diary, R&BLer NFTT challenge: let's take it up a notch, through the last diary published Sunday.
Help us meet our goal by the May 10th deadline, if you can. Here's where you can make your donation -- and feel especially great about yourself after doing it!
For the Twitterati
@dKosBooks Receive automatic notification the instant we publish new content on your mobile or residential device.
Other than that, nothing's happening!