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Re: [ARSCLIST] (II)Two other N.Y. Times article on a different type of digitizing



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Karl Miller" <karl.miller@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>   Kinda makes me wonder...are libraries going to circulate ebooks and iPods
loaded with information? So, will we have a cataloging record for the file, then
one for the object on to which we have loaded that file. I also wonder if by the
time we get an AACR III we won't have as many objects being published that we
can describe...
>
More likely, they will circulate digital storage devices/players "loaded"
with whatever information the client requests. If someone asked me for an
MP3 of Victor 23456, I wouldn't give him (and he wouldn't want!) a large
MP3 containing all my Victors...!

However, the library would have to have a server containing all the
information they wish to provide their clients...and I wonder who
would select WHICH information...?! "1984" comes to mind...

>   Another thought on the wacky world of copyrights...I assume that any midi
file derived from an old recording would be subject to the copyright of the
recording used as the source for that midi file!!!!! I can hardly wait to read
the court cases on those legal battles.
>
I think the precedents for this already exist...and the case would
require a proof that "said recording" had clearly and obviously been
the exclusive or primary source for "said digital object!"

Next question...if I'm feeling terribly energetic, and take a bunch
of pens and notebooks and copy, by hand, the entire text of a copyrighted
book (and survive...) am I violating the author's copyright...?!

Finally, as far as cataloging the "fully digital library of the future)...
this would actually be a lot easier. All one would need is an old DOS-
based machine...type "DIR C:\ /s >CATALOG.TXT" to get a listing of all
your holdings by filename. Then (one assumes) there would exist a
digital list of the contents of each file, or data headers specifying
the content in each file in a specific location.

CATALOG.TXT could be imported into Excel (might need a bit of editing
first, but not much...) and then an Excel macro could be written allowing
the obtaining of the actual file content from the header data.

Once in Excel, it would be easy to create CATALOG.DOC (MS Word) or
CATALOG.MDB (Access database)...possibly even CATALOG.PPT (PowerPoint
file...?!).

Steven C. Barr


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