(Originally posted April 22, 2012)
Though the internet serves as an communication tool enhancing access to information, the opening of the proverbial floodgates comes with strings attached. As evidenced in the articles by S. Vaidhyanathan (2005), B. Gambles (2010), and K. A. Coombs (2005), there is reason to be concerned out future trends and the relative privacy of the consumer/patron.
In Vaidyanathan's "The Googlization of Everything and the Future of Copyright," the author addresses how Google's mass digitization efforts, while noble in intent, have received both resistance and criticism from authors, publishers, librarians, and the Copyright Office. The heart of the matter is the retention of the rights of intellectual properties. While Google hopes to make rare books available to the public through Google Books, there are concerns that the rights of the authors--even those who cannot be identified or located (creating orphaned works, still retain copyright ownership of their work (even if it goes unrepresented). Thus, the works sit in a virtual limbo.
Expanding on the notion of the digitized book is Gambles' "Rewriting the Book: On the Move in the Library of Birmingham" (2010). A project in the works, the Library of Birmingham is a novel concept which hopes to open in 2013. Just as the architecture is a fusion of old and new ideas, the premise behind the Library of Birmingham is to create an atmosphere which promotes emerging technologies which impact library patrons. Acknowledging the significance of Web 2.0 and tools/sites such as Google, Amazon, Twitter, and Facebook, the LoB views its mission as a place where users can make the transition to new technology and software--rather than to be restricted to aging means of research.
Just as Gambles demonstrates how one library is fully embracing the digital age, Coombs' "Protecting User Privacy in the Age of Digital Libraries" (2005) reminds us of the information libraries receive and are capable of retaining from users who connect online or use library computers. Though some of the information, such as browsing trends and site hits may prove useful in helping a library determine which products are utilized, there is the concern regarding personal information stored in the system. For this reason (and because of state and Federal laws which address the importance of protecting the privacy of users), Coombs emphasizes the importance of scrubbing library records and removing information which can identify a person or user.
Ultimately, accessing information on the Internet is a silent pact: the user agrees to make portions of their personal information available to a site in return for the privilege to view the information that site possesses. What kind of information that site retains, and what it elects to do with the information is the key, and while some organizations try to protect the rights of their users, others merely view their users as another product to be sold to a different customer or agency.
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Coombs, K. A. (2005). Protecting user privacy in the age of digital libraries. Computers in
Libraries, 25, 16-20.
Gambles, B. (2010). Rewriting the book: On the move in the library of Birmingham.
30-July-2010 Publication: Ariadne Issue 64: http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue64
/gambles.
Vaidhyanathan, S. (2005). The Googlization of everything and the future of copyright.
Retrieved from http://lawreview.law.ucdavis.edu/issues/Vol40/Issue3
/DavisVol40No3_Vaidhyanathan.pdf.
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