Yes, the British Library certainly receives a lot of taxpayers' money, -L-109.4 million in 2009/10.
[1]http://www.bl.uk/about/annual/2009to2010/accounts.pdf They have digitised some stuff, although not nearly as much as the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. Right now I'm browsing a very nice online copy of My Ladye Nevells Booke. [2]http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/virtualbooks/viewall/index.html Their main strategic priority seems to be building their capacity to capture and store digital publications at source. Their digitisation priority seems to be newspapers. [3]http://www.bl.uk/about/annual/2009to2010/strategic/stratprioraction1 .html#one Tricky job, running a huge library.... P On 12 November 2010 12:03, Monica Hall <[4]mjlh...@tiscali.co.uk> wrote: ----- Original Message ----- From: "Christopher Wilke" <[5]chriswi...@yahoo.com> To: "[6]lute-cs.dartmouth.edu" <[7]l...@cs.dartmouth.edu>; "David Tayler" <[8]vidan...@sbcglobal.net> Sent: Friday, November 12, 2010 2:20 AM Subject: [LUTE] Re: More digital facsimiles from the (public) libraries? David, Yes, indeed, as do academic presses in general. University presses are among the worst offenders, with many volumes priced out of the range of individual buyers. I suppose they have to do something to recoup the losses from the limited appeal of many specialized subjects. But are these artificially inflated prices sustainable? Won't libraries just stop buying stuff they determine is not as important as X or Z? That is already happening. The specialized library where I used to work declined to buy a specialist book on Stradivarius which cost -L-80. Their funds just didn't stretch to it. I am having to wait until the British L:ibrary get around to cataloguing the copy I assume they will receive under copyright laws. Could be yonks if they are cutting back on staff to do the cataloguing (a highly skilled activity in itself). Monica Who can blame them if they need to make these budgetary decisions, but how scary is that? Publishers in turn will stop publishing the things that aren't so "important"... Things are increasingly turning to online resources, but this raises real issues of ephemerality. What is the probability that someone a hundred years from now will be able to access the exact online information that people the people in 2010 accessed? The long-term survivability of much of today's information might very well depend on loose printouts, made and preserved at some anonymous user's whim. Digital storage media has also shown that it is far less reliable than first believed (CDRs only have about a ten year shelf life, for example.) Wow, that's much more of a free association rant than I first intended. Anyway, I suppose it goes to show that the accomplishments of our civilization hang by a much thinner thread than any of us realize. All of our artifacts might ultimately be far less permanent than the wooden ceiling of an ancient Greek temple. Chris Christopher Wilke Lutenist, Guitarist and Composer [9]www.christopherwilke.com --- On Thu, 11/11/10, David Tayler <[10]vidan...@sbcglobal.net> wrote: From: David Tayler <[11]vidan...@sbcglobal.net> Subject: [LUTE] Re: More digital facsimiles from the (public) libraries? To: "[12]lute-cs.dartmouth.edu" <[13]l...@cs.dartmouth.edu> Date: Thursday, November 11, 2010, 8:54 PM By charging high prices, sometimes hundreds of dollars, for these facsimile editions, the libraries are deprived of resources. The publishers count on extracting a toll from libraries. dt At 04:02 AM 11/11/2010, you wrote: >As a retired librarian it seems to me that everyone will be better off if >you have your way except the poor old libraries and librarians who need >money to keep their heads above water. Without us there wouldn't be any >books available or a decent place to read them. Why should people make >money out of doing an edition or even publishing a facsimile but the not the >people and organizations who >have made sure that these things are preserved in the first place? > >In any case even a facsimile is not a substitute for seeing the real thing. > >Monica > > >----- Original Message ----- From: "David Tayler" <[14]vidan...@sbcglobal.net> >To: "[15]lute-cs.dartmouth.edu" <[16]l...@cs.dartmouth.edu> >Sent: Wednesday, November 10, 2010 9:33 PM >Subject: [LUTE] Re: More digital facsimiles from the (public) libraries? > > >>Although I understand all of the issues, including compensating ppl >>for their time, charging money for facsimiles is basically evil, and >>in the long run everyone will be better served by having more music >>available--more concerts, more audience, more work. >>What all libraries should do is just put it all online, and then if >>someone wants to make an edition and sell it, fine. Just make a PDF, >>and upload it, and I guarantee that everyone will benefit. >>This also prevents players from owning a repertory by limiting access. >> >>If scholars want to sell the commentary as a separate book, that is >>also fine, and continues an established tradition. >>dt >> >> >> >>At 12:32 PM 11/10/2010, you wrote: >>> Still something that I don't get: >>> >>> why are some public (public) libraries slowly making all their MS >>> available as a digital download - and I'm thinking about the the >>> Bayerisch Staatsbibliothek here in Munich, between others -, while >>> there are other PUBLIC libraries (hello, British Library ...) - that >>> still do not even seem to envisage that ... >>> >>> Shall we (as single members of the list) put some pressure on our >>>local >>> libraries? Send an email to the curators of their music departments - >>> maybe as rightful, registered members of the library, as I guess some >>> of us are - and ask about it? >>> (Of course, this doesn't want to diminuish at all the value of such >>> pubblication as the Dd.2.11 by the Lute Society. The scholarship part >>> is something you dont get in a digital facsimile ...) >>> Your opinion, listers? >>> Matteo >>> On 10 November 2010 20:19, Denys Stephens >>> <[1][17]denyssteph...@ukonline.co.uk> wrote: >>> [...] >>> >>> It's also worth noting that whilst some >>> of >>> the world's libraries are making digital copies of their musical >>> sources >>> available, there is currently no expectation that this, or indeed >>> any of the >>> Cambridge University Library manuscripts will become available as >>> free >>> electronic downloads. >>> Denys >>> >>> -- >>> >>>References >>> >>> 1. mailto:[18]denyssteph...@ukonline.co.uk >>> >>> >>>To get on or off this list see list information at >>>[19]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >> To get on or off this list see list information at [20]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html -- Peter Martin 24 The Mount St Georges Second Avenue Newcastle under Lyme ST5 8RB tel: 0044 (0)1782 662089 mob: 0044 (0)7971 232614 [21]peter.l...@gmail.com -- References 1. http://www.bl.uk/about/annual/2009to2010/accounts.pdf 2. http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/virtualbooks/viewall/index.html 3. http://www.bl.uk/about/annual/2009to2010/strategic/stratprioraction1.html#one 4. mailto:mjlh...@tiscali.co.uk 5. mailto:chriswi...@yahoo.com 6. http://lute-cs.dartmouth.edu/ 7. mailto:lute@cs.dartmouth.edu 8. mailto:vidan...@sbcglobal.net 9. http://www.christopherwilke.com/ 10. mailto:vidan...@sbcglobal.net 11. mailto:vidan...@sbcglobal.net 12. http://lute-cs.dartmouth.edu/ 13. mailto:lute@cs.dartmouth.edu 14. mailto:vidan...@sbcglobal.net 15. http://lute-cs.dartmouth.edu/ 16. mailto:lute@cs.dartmouth.edu 17. mailto:denyssteph...@ukonline.co.uk 18. mailto:denyssteph...@ukonline.co.uk 19. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html 20. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html 21. mailto:peter.l...@gmail.com
