Oh yes, another rainy day in Portland that would perhaps make me glum were it not for the excellent coffee and public computer access provided at the oh so awesome Beulahland. I am a big believer in having a coffee shop/diner to escape to, especially when you need to get some work done. So, without much ado, I present the daily links:
The Open University released 100 new titles, for free download, on the ItunesU website. This availability of information not only increases the opportunity for inquisitive minds to learn and engage but also just might push regular textbook producers into pursuing similar techniques for multi-media learning now at the core of the Open University texts. A quote:
“For example, if you are looking at a course on genetics, as you read the narrative the embedded audio and video illustrate key points as you go along, and if you are learning about Schubert’s Lieder, with an OU e-book it’s easy, you can hear the music as you follow the score. This really helps to bring subjects to life and simplifies things for students, as you don’t have to be online or carry lots of different materials."
From the New York Review of Books website, a response to Harvard librarian Robert Darnton's call for a 'National Digital Library' and elaboration of just what a 'digital library' would look like. A quote from Darnton:
If I could unvex the question of copyright, I would gladly do so, but heads wiser than mine have beaten themselves against it, to no avail. Nonetheless, I can assure Tony Simpson that the National Digital Library I propose would not violate copyright. It would be built incrementally, beginning with the digital files of books in the public domain, about two million works. To them, one could add all noncopyrighted material digitized from the special collections of libraries and museums.
Further ingredients could come from collections that have already been aggregated from networks of databases such as the National Digital Newspaper Program, Digital Collections and Content, Opening History, the National Science Digital Library, and the Biodiversity Heritage Library. Taken together, these sources represent many millions of items, and they might be supplemented by the still larger holdings of HathiTrust, the Internet Archive, and PublicResource.Org.
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The goal of a 'universal library' has been a dream of those who treasure such a collection of knowledge since the days of Gutenberg- so while I, too, desire to see a 'digital library' I also know this has been a goal for many decades, even centuries, and I don't expect a solution to arise anytime soon. Still, good to see a practical elaboration of what such a digital library could look like.
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