Book Lovers Fear Dim Future for Notes in the Margins

Book Lovers Fear Dim Future for Notes in the Margins
“People will always find a way to annotate electronically,” said G. Thomas Tanselle, a former vice president of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and an adjunct professor of English at Columbia University. “But there is the question of how it is going to be preserved. And that is a problem now facing collections libraries.”

February 21, 2011 by Uncategorized 1

You may also like...

1 Response

  1. GrantRobertson says:
    February 22, 2011 at 4:04 pm

    Refuse to use eReaders with unsharable comments.
    While the attached article is primarily about historical, “analog” margin notes and their value, I do believe there is a way for the LIS – and all academic – communities to ensure all their digital comments and highlighting in digital publications will be shareable and archivable: Simply refuse to use or endorse any eReader device or software that does not allow exporting of annotations. Write to the manufactures and developers and let them know that you will not purchase, endorse, recommend, or allow to be included in any curriculum any eBook that does not allow users to export all their comments in a manner that can be shared with anyone.

    Watching the LIS community jump all over eBooks while – at the same time – fretting over how to deal with their limitations has really started to irk me. You’ve heard the line, “If you build it, they will come.” Well the LIS community seems to be like those ghosts who come to a lame ball field in the middle of a corn field merely because it is the there. Instead, you should be demanding the metaphorical equivalent of a real stadium that everyone can use and share, and refusing to show up until you get it.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

LISNews Archives