Re: [ARSCLIST] Interesting WSJ Article on when libraries should discard their holdings.

[RA Friedman <rafriedman@xxxxxxx>]

The value of material is usually not known by the people who collect it. What's has no research value now, may have huge potential later on.

	-----Original Message----- 
	From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List on behalf of Karl Miller 
	Sent: Fri 1/5/2007 9:21 AM 
	To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
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	Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Interesting WSJ Article on when libraries should discard their holdings.
	
	

	Tom Fine <tflists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:    All this culling at libraries is a screaming endorsement of Google's plot to digitize as many
	printed words as possible and make it all searchable. Yeah, they're going to have to make their
	money back and yeah there are copyright issues. But 100 years down the line, people might be very
	thankful that their digitizing engine was running full throttle as printed books got dumpstered.
	
	-- Tom Fine
	
	  I agree. Much of what is archived is that which was collected by individuals and organizations other than libraries. I have often wondered if we were left with what libraries retain...our measure of our history would be Harry Potter and no Hemingway...lots of Britney Spears and no Coltrane.
	  
	  Well, come to think about it, Britney probably says more about our society than Coltrane.
	  
	  Karl