[ARSCLIST] Zits cartoon strip, or, a personal rambling rant

[Marcos Sueiro <mls2137@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I must admit I am a bit surprised, if not shocked, to see a discussion on 
the value of libraries in the ARSCList, of all places. Come on people! We 
are talking about the repositories of human knowledge!! We're talkin' 
Alexandria, Cordoba, Trinity College, so on and so forth! Possibly one of 
the greatest ideas of humankind, and an amazing gift to all of us. (I am 
convinced that if someone came up with this idea today in the Western 
World, it would never happen. Just imagine the publishers and record 
companies: "Wait a minute. You are going to let people borrow this stuff 
for free? Are you out of your mind????") Libraries are wonderfully 
anachronistic, but also timeless. And while I applaud the idea of 
digitising materials and making them available on the web, it cannot be a 
library's primary function. Such a position I find between naive and 
arrogant, assuming that computers, or something that can read computer 
files, will be around forever. Maybe they will be, maybe they won't. One 
thing we know for sure: Libraries have been around for hundreds and 
hundreds of years, they seem to work, and have changed the course of 
knowledge's history several times, by revealing previous knowledge that was 
not popular at the time, but that some inquisitive soul picked up (the 
Renaissance, anyone?).

I live in Queens, NY, whose public library system claims to have the 
highest usage in the world, and I love to see people of all creeds, 
colours, and ages populate its library branches. Engaging in one of the 
most wonderful of human endeavours: the sharing of knowledge. For free.

There is only so much digitising one can do. Only the "useful" stuff will 
be put up on the web. What you end up is with a generic MacLibrary of 
knowledge, Google or not.

Keep the buildings open!!!

Ramblingly yours,

Marcos