Are public libraries inadequate?

[Giggleton]

Given that all knowledge can currently be distributed digitally and instantaneously, are most nations library systems adequately equipped to handle the demand for information?

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by Giggleton

Given that all knowledge can currently be distributed digitally and instantaneously, are most nations library systems adequately equipped to handle the demand for information?

The first part of the sentence has nothing to do with the second.

A large portion of the books I have read and admired are still not digitized.

As for most nations, no one has the required encyclopedic knowledge of both library penetration and extent of censorship in dozens, if not hundreds, of countries to answer this. Plus, it varies a lot within countries. Even in a rich country with interlibrary loan, like the US, there are pockets without much library coverage. And even in sub-Saharan Africa, you can find some good ones.

[Giggleton]

Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg

The first part of the sentence has nothing to do with the second.

A large portion of the books I have read and admired are still not digitized.

As for most nations, no one has the required encyclopedic knowledge of both library penetration and extent of censorship in dozens, if not hundreds, of countries to answer this. Plus, it varies a lot within countries. Even in a rich country with interlibrary loan, like the US, there are pockets without much library coverage. And even in sub-Saharan Africa, you can find some good ones.

We have to assume that if we are able to read something we should be able to read it, why would we assume anything different??

I must say that your admission of not being able to read digitized versions of the books that you admire is an exemplary example of the inadequacy of the current library system.

[maxiart]

Actually, no, not all information can currently be distributed digitally and instantaneously, because that would require all books have been previously digitalized. Rather, I'd say that is just a misinformed expectation. What you could argue is that this is so because of the inadequacy of libraries or something to that effect. Perhaps.

Personally, I'd say its just too soon for that. Overly too soon in developing countries like mine.

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by Giggleton

I must say that your admission of not being able to read digitized versions of the books that you admire is an exemplary example of the inadequacy of the current library system.

I was thinking of the many prize-winning books that are not available anywhere except in paper. Examples of personal interest would be Conrad Richter's Pulitizer and National Book Award winning novels. Google almost surely has scanned copies in their server farms, but, to the best of my knowledge, no one has done the tedious job of fixing the OCR errors and preparing for digital publication.

On January 1, 2019, Richter's works pass into the Canadian public domain. Baring changes in law, I expect that they will be available, within a year or two after that, to Canadians, in the Patricia Clark Memorial Library, and to you and I when visiting the great Dominion to our north.

Are you seriously saying that public libraries should have digitizing such out-of-fashion literature as part of their mission?

P.S. As maxiart implies, English is ahead of most (all?) other languages when it come to digitizing. So we are going to need traditional paper-book libraries for a long, long, time.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Giggleton

We have to assume that if we are able to read something we should be able to read it, why would we assume anything different??

Uh, no.
There is no reason to make such an assumption on a global scale.
Not as a given. Not in a world with 200 governments, 1000+ cultures, and societies ranging from space traveling to neo-lithic with plenty of medieval cultures still around in between.
I'm sorry to say that statement smacks of ivory tower entitlement.

Could you please offer up some justification for such an assumption?

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by Giggleton

Given that all knowledge can currently be distributed digitally and instantaneously, are most nations library systems adequately equipped to handle the demand for information?

Uh, wrong. You don't know what knowledge is. And no, we do not have a knowledge distribution system. Closest we have is Google/Wikipedia.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by maxiart

Actually, no, not all information can currently be distributed digitally and instantaneously, because that would require all books have been previously digitalized. Rather, I'd say that is just a misinformed expectation. What you could argue is that this is so because of the inadequacy of libraries or something to that effect. Perhaps.

Personally, I'd say its just too soon for that. Overly too soon in developing countries like mine.

and besides, nothing is instantaneous except at planck distances.

[applesauce]

Once you are at uni the local library is pointless. All reaearch has to be on campus or online.

applesauce

[Penforhire]

Public libraries need a transformation. I tend to agree that free dissemination of more material is desirable. I'm not fully in Giggle's camp, suggesting that everything must be free. But the foundation for improving the worldwide standard of living is education. As long as some can afford education and some cannot there will be a divide.

[kennyc]

As long as some can create that with which others resonate
and others can't, there will be a divide

That is the real key and that is what must be considered and addressed in our brave new world.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by kennyc

As long as some can create that with which others resonate
and others can't, there will be a divide

That is the real key and that is what must be considered and addressed in our brave new world.

Correct.
There is no such thing as a free lunch.

Information doesn't grow on trees nor does it fall like manna from heaven; it is the product of people's efforts and thoughts. If it is useful and desirable, then it has value and it is up to the creator and/or his/her agent to *individually* determine the terms for access to that value.

It is not up to the consumer, either ethically or legally, to unilaterally determine the terms of access, much less to arrogantly proclaim it *must* be zero. Nor to loftily proclaim that other's creations *must* be made available to them at all.
That is *not* the world we live in.
The world real humans live in is not a world of ideals and unenforceable dictates by fiat but of compromises, of negotiation, of muddling through. Of small hard-fought and sweated gains.

It is a world of regulation and borders and screaming anarchists demanding that others cater to *their* whims without regards to the *needs* of those others. It is a world of muderers and thieves, of ethnic clensing and xenophobia, of slavers and exploiters, of unnecesary conflict and starvation, or willful ignorance and blind hate.

It is a world that has all too few creators and achievers but it also a world of hope and willing giving, of those who worry about actually doing something to leave the world in even slightly better shape than they found it by actually *doing* something of value.

And it is a world where, instead of blindly demanding the impossible and berating the productive, we should be working towards slow but realistic improvement and thanking those that actually do *something* to help.

If libraries aren't up to your expectations, why not look for ways to help?
Most libraries happily accept volunteer help, so why not get involved?
Help them set up links to Gutenberg and Feedbooks and other feee ebook sites. Help them build a local classics collection on DVD they can freely give away. Or store on their website. Help them setup and maintain the website. Or their pbook collection.

Do something of value for somebody else.
Mentor kids, help seniors, work at a local charity.
Or, hey, write a book! See if you can entertain somebody and distract them from the dreary world outside.

It's a screwed up world but fixing it is up to us as individuals, one at a time, in whatever small measure we can.

It's better than cursing the darkness or whatever...
Fair enough?

[kennyc]

Bravo!

[John F]

Originally Posted by Giggleton

Given that all knowledge can currently be distributed digitally and instantaneously, are most nations library systems adequately equipped to handle the demand for information?

.Yes.

[Penforhire]

FJ, can't we do both? I was a literacy tutor on and off for more than thirty years, most recently through Read O.C.. Can't I still curse the darkness?

Your local library may allow direct volunteer assistance to their e-book department but you won't get anywhere close to policy-making in Los Angeles or Orange County. They've got people, committees, and politics. For us it is more a political issue to get something significant done.

TANSTAAFL doesn't apply to libraries or public schools, does it? They (we) pay their way. There should be a greater investment than we see now. I can see you've been incensed by some of Giggles' more radical concepts.

Too few creators? We must have different standards. I can't keep up with the creators we have. My list of books to read gets longer, not shorter, every year.