Virtual Light/Virtual Heat

from mondolithic.com

Any book ever published in the history of, well, history, free for anybody to read, and curated online by people who specialize in getting information out to the masses. This subject sounds a bit Utopian, as well as something out of a William Gibson novel. However, the reality is that this had almost arrived, and that there's a good chance that it might still happen.

Initially, Google had planned to make an online library and bookstore, after digitalizing massive amounts of books.  This was struck down by a New York federal judge, out of concerns for copyright and Google's monopoly on the market (if successful, Google would have been the only people who have access to much of their content, and they could profit from it without the consent of the copyright owners)

However, out of the defeat of one idea comes the birth of the improvement on that idea.  After Google was blocked from completing their digital library, a movement has risen to create a universal public library.  The project (which has backing from librarians at Harvard, as well as several other universities, the National Archives, and the Library of Congress)

This is an amazing idea, and one that improves on Google's original idea. For example, the current project is entirely non-commercial, which means that hopefully the copyright owners will be less concerned with the possibility of money being made off of their copyright without their permission

However, the best thing about this possibility is that it extends the reach and concept of the library far beyond what can traditionally be offered. Books will no longer be limited to a physical location, which means that providing information to patrons who seek it (which is one of the main goals of librarianship, especially in public libraries) will be much easier.

It will also help libraries in the transition to digital media. Currently, libraries need to work with media providers to circulate e-books. My previous post touched on how certain providers are making things more difficult for libraries to provide the selection of material that they might otherwise be able to. With this, digital items of high quality will be easily available, thus eliminating the need for content providers to restrict their material.

Although right now, there's still much to be done with this plan - the logistics are still mostly up in the air, and there's still lots of scanning before this project can be a reality. However, if this can be pulled off, information can be argued as being at last, free.