Comments on: Settling the future of books http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/editorial/11/07/settling-the-future-of-books/ Guyana News, Sports, Businesss and Entertainment Sun, 21 Mar 2010 02:50:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Clive http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/editorial/11/07/settling-the-future-of-books/comment-page-1/#comment-238716 Clive Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:15:34 +0000 http://www.stabroeknews.com/?p=62940#comment-238716 Rosemarie - In answer to your query about accessing books on Google. From your browser or via the Google home page type: www.books.google.com/books In the google search box : enter a book title or a subject key word. N.B. not all items retrieved are the full text of the book, some may reveal only selected chaptersor nothing at all. Rosemarie – In answer to your query about accessing books on Google.
From your browser or via the Google home page
type: http://www.books.google.com/books
In the google search box : enter a book title or a subject key word.
N.B. not all items retrieved are the full text of the book, some may reveal only selected chaptersor nothing at all.

]]> By: rosemariecsn@hotmail.com http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/editorial/11/07/settling-the-future-of-books/comment-page-1/#comment-238555 rosemariecsn@hotmail.com Sun, 08 Nov 2009 12:38:54 +0000 http://www.stabroeknews.com/?p=62940#comment-238555 This is a fantastic intiative. At least google acknowledges the authors of the literary works. In some instances the outdated publications explain things in a more simplified manner and complexity may either be the authors natural ability to think on a higher level or a deliberate attempt to confuse. My personal experience is that the UK teachers who have written on their personal experiences of teaching children is understanding the psyche of each individual child thus keeping a class at one level. Quite unlike the newaged style of teaching which is just on delivery of the syllabus rather than the subjects of their delivery-children- the focus is on the " object"- the syllabus. Legally, how many estates of these authors will benefit from the royalty? What was the cost of the book in the year of publication and the depreciation/devaluation on the book- can it have royalty of any substantial value?????? How can I access the repository of online information? Is it a specific search or does goggle's online registry have a name? Rosemarie Choo-Shee-Nam Attorney-atlaw, Mediator, Legal Educator This is a fantastic intiative. At least google acknowledges the authors of the literary works.

In some instances the outdated publications explain things in a more simplified manner and complexity may either be the authors natural ability to think on a higher level or a deliberate attempt to confuse.

My personal experience is that the UK teachers who have written on their personal experiences of teaching children is understanding the psyche of each individual child thus keeping a class at one level. Quite unlike the newaged style of teaching which is just on delivery of the syllabus rather than the subjects of their delivery-children- the focus is on the ” object”- the syllabus.

Legally, how many estates of these authors will benefit from the royalty? What was the cost of the book in the year of publication and the depreciation/devaluation on the book- can it have royalty of any substantial value??????

How can I access the repository of online information? Is it a specific search or does goggle’s online registry have a name?

Rosemarie Choo-Shee-Nam
Attorney-atlaw, Mediator, Legal Educator

]]> By: Clive http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/editorial/11/07/settling-the-future-of-books/comment-page-1/#comment-238417 Clive Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:53:27 +0000 http://www.stabroeknews.com/?p=62940#comment-238417 Worthy editorial. Putting aside the arguments for and against digitisation or intellectual property rights, one should be grateful for the few digital crumbs that Google has been feeding to the cyber population, especially to those who would never in a life time have access to the world's great libraries of printed books. I believe there is no real substitute for a printed book but if some books and printed media are deemed to be too rare or fragile or inaccessible, what is to be done? Guyana’s libraries may still hold valuable out of print editions and rare historical texts but some copies are not fit for purpose - the fragility of the paper ( on account of poor archival conditions) means that each book page turned may let loose a fragment with text to be left behind like biscuit crumbs. Thank goodness Google has made available digital copies of selected 19c Guyanese historical and modern texts; log on to googlebooks.com, enter the search terms "British Guiana" or "Guyana" and you will be surprised what turns up. It is interesting to see on the on the digitised pages the book’s provenance from the library stamps such as the New York Public Library or Harvard University Library. Does this mean that these bibliographic institutions have rendered to the digital world selective printed texts which have lost their shelf-life and have been weeded from their reserve collections? One would very much hope that this is not the case. Where digitisation scores highly is in making full text newspapers and ephemeral publications freely accessible on line. Here again the student of Guyanese 19c social history can glean much from the British Library’s on line digital 19c British newspaper archive covering the period 1800 -1900. Worthy editorial. Putting aside the arguments for and against digitisation or intellectual property rights, one should be grateful for the few digital crumbs that Google has been feeding to the cyber population, especially to those who would never in a life time have access to the world’s great libraries of printed books. I believe there is no real substitute for a printed book but if some books and printed media are deemed to be too rare or fragile or inaccessible, what is to be done? Guyana’s libraries may still hold valuable out of print editions and rare historical texts but some copies are not fit for purpose – the fragility of the paper ( on account of poor archival conditions) means that each book page turned may let loose a fragment with text to be left behind like biscuit crumbs. Thank goodness Google has made available digital copies of selected 19c Guyanese historical and modern texts; log on to googlebooks.com, enter the search terms “British Guiana” or “Guyana” and you will be surprised what turns up. It is interesting to see on the on the digitised pages the book’s provenance from the library stamps such as the New York Public Library or Harvard University Library. Does this mean that these bibliographic institutions have rendered to the digital world selective printed texts which have lost their shelf-life and have been weeded from their reserve collections? One would very much hope that this is not the case. Where digitisation scores highly is in making full text newspapers and ephemeral publications freely accessible on line. Here again the student of Guyanese 19c social history can glean much from the British Library’s on line digital 19c British newspaper archive covering the period 1800 -1900.

]]> By: MXQBH http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/editorial/11/07/settling-the-future-of-books/comment-page-1/#comment-238351 MXQBH Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:30:10 +0000 http://www.stabroeknews.com/?p=62940#comment-238351 The hieroglyphics inscribed on stone in the pyramids of Egypt thousands of years ago will long outlast the words penned on paper in our time. Even the digitized data will fade away one day. Put in on stone! The hieroglyphics inscribed on stone in the pyramids of Egypt thousands of years ago will long outlast the words penned on paper in our time. Even the digitized data will fade away one day. Put in on stone!

]]> By: Shaun Michael Samaroo http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/editorial/11/07/settling-the-future-of-books/comment-page-1/#comment-238331 Shaun Michael Samaroo Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:10:48 +0000 http://www.stabroeknews.com/?p=62940#comment-238331 Wonderful Editorial, especially coming from Georgetown where things like culture, knowledge and the future of books today look like aliens peeping out fearfully from a tall bush behind the largely outdated National Library. I was astonished when I visited Guyana in July last to see a stray dog urinate openly in broad daylight on the tree inside the gate of the Library. No one seemed to care. Anyway, as someone keenly interested in the future of books, I have followed the Google case closely for years. As much as we want to preserve and store our human knowledge in a way that is, well, eternal really, I think Google is missing the point badly. What we need to see is a reform of Intellectual Property on a global scale. The IP provisions for works of intellectual creativity, advancement of knowledge and trading of human capital asset such as personal talent and sporting ability, is where the solution lies. The sports and entertainment industries have found a solution through an economic system for rewarding Human Capital, hence the high pay for footballers, basketball players and talented movie stars and singers, and so on. We have yet to develop a sound economic system for the development, storage and global trading of knowledge in the Knowledge Age, hence the poor pay of teachers, nurses, writers, artists and so on. But I believe the days of the "starving artist" are coming to a definite end. We today live in a global Knowledge Economy, where information is of paramount value. In the name of preserving that knowledge as a historical record, Google pampers to its vision - to become a global storehouse and trader of information. Google realizes that this resonates with our socio-cultural emotion. So Page and Brin expertly pull the right cords to stimulate this noble motive. But they are getting away from the real issue: if we can develop a global system of developing ideas into useful knowledge, and then trading and sharing that knowledge through a system that rewards human capital from its source, then I think we would be tackling the problem. Your Editorial mentioned the profit motive as a possible inspiration to do the hard work. Well, the profit motive of the person who created the original work is where we should focus. In other words, instead of focusing on information as a commodity, and the preservation and trading of humanity's historical record, we should be instead talking about Intellectual Property, trading of Human Capital, and capitalization of Human Assets. That is where the future will be, where we develop a global socio-economic culture of celebrating and rewarding Human Capital and recognizing Human Assets as Intellectual Property, and therefore as real as Real Estate or physical assets. This global free market trading system could weed out IP of poor quality, and allow those that can touch the lives of multitudes of individuals to flourish and gain historical prominence. It's not about whether or not we can preserve a billion books, but whether we can develop a global socio-economic culture where Human Capital of the individual becomes of paramount importance. In other words, we need a global 'stock exchange' where human assets such as ideas, talents, knowledge and creativity can be packaged and traded as shares, with the person possessing the human capital being the incorporated entity. Google has no such interest. For those interested in more about this topic, please see futureofthebook.org Wonderful Editorial, especially coming from Georgetown where things like culture, knowledge and the future of books today look like aliens peeping out fearfully from a tall bush behind the largely outdated National Library. I was astonished when I visited Guyana in July last to see a stray dog urinate openly in broad daylight on the tree inside the gate of the Library. No one seemed to care.
Anyway, as someone keenly interested in the future of books, I have followed the Google case closely for years. As much as we want to preserve and store our human knowledge in a way that is, well, eternal really, I think Google is missing the point badly.
What we need to see is a reform of Intellectual Property on a global scale. The IP provisions for works of intellectual creativity, advancement of knowledge and trading of human capital asset such as personal talent and sporting ability, is where the solution lies. The sports and entertainment industries have found a solution through an economic system for rewarding Human Capital, hence the high pay for footballers, basketball players and talented movie stars and singers, and so on.
We have yet to develop a sound economic system for the development, storage and global trading of knowledge in the Knowledge Age, hence the poor pay of teachers, nurses, writers, artists and so on. But I believe the days of the “starving artist” are coming to a definite end.
We today live in a global Knowledge Economy, where information is of paramount value. In the name of preserving that knowledge as a historical record, Google pampers to its vision – to become a global storehouse and trader of information. Google realizes that this resonates with our socio-cultural emotion. So Page and Brin expertly pull the right cords to stimulate this noble motive.
But they are getting away from the real issue: if we can develop a global system of developing ideas into useful knowledge, and then trading and sharing that knowledge through a system that rewards human capital from its source, then I think we would be tackling the problem.
Your Editorial mentioned the profit motive as a possible inspiration to do the hard work. Well, the profit motive of the person who created the original work is where we should focus.
In other words, instead of focusing on information as a commodity, and the preservation and trading of humanity’s historical record, we should be instead talking about Intellectual Property, trading of Human Capital, and capitalization of Human Assets. That is where the future will be, where we develop a global socio-economic culture of celebrating and rewarding Human Capital and recognizing Human Assets as Intellectual Property, and therefore as real as Real Estate or physical assets. This global free market trading system could weed out IP of poor quality, and allow those that can touch the lives of multitudes of individuals to flourish and gain historical prominence. It’s not about whether or not we can preserve a billion books, but whether we can develop a global socio-economic culture where Human Capital of the individual becomes of paramount importance. In other words, we need a global ’stock exchange’ where human assets such as ideas, talents, knowledge and creativity can be packaged and traded as shares, with the person possessing the human capital being the incorporated entity. Google has no such interest. For those interested in more about this topic, please see futureofthebook.org

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