Jason has a good example of how DRM can affect libraries. Can you count the different ways this ebook is not like a real book?
Month: March 2005
when is a blog not a blog?
Small update and interesting sidenote. Even though the web4lib content is being presented in blog format, it’s not really a blog. That is, you can’t comment using the comment form without being a list member. Not that this is a bad thing, but it is definitely a repurposing of the blog format in a way that produces unexpected results. Anyone who doesn’t know about web4lib should read up on it. Maybe it’s the librarian in me, but I think the list of guidelines for list behavior is sane, thoughful and thorough.
web4lib blog
Web4lib’s content is available for reading and permalinking in blog format with and RSS feed and interchangeable skins! [unalog]
the costs of copyright
Sometimes life in a world of strict copyright enforcement can seem like life in a world of crazy health insurance. My doctor doesn’t know what my health care will cost — keeping me from making informed decisions factoring in cost as one data point — and Harvard professors don’t know what their coursepacks will cost students after copyright fees are figured in. Students make illegal copies because they can’t afford a $500 coursepack. Who suffers? What is learned? [stayfree]
Legislation for Librarians
Here’s another great acronym for all librarians to know SPY BLOCK (Software Principles Yielding Better Levels of Consumer Knowledge). It’s an anti-spyware bill which, like most legislation written by people who don’t truly understand technology — or who are willfully ignoring what they know about it — is overbroad. Susan Crawford explains more. [copyfight]