A colleague posed an interesting idea: patrons scan book pages to
deliver to themselves by email, flash drive, etc.
What if the scans didn't disappear from memory, but went into a
repository so the next patron looking for that passage didn't have to
jockey the flatbed scanner?
* Patron scans library barcode at the scanner
* The system says, "I have these pages available in cache."
o Patron's project overlaps with the cache and saves time in the
scanning, or
o Patron needs different pages, scans them and contributes to the
cache
Now imagine a consortium of some sort where when the patron scans the
barcode, the system takes a hop via the ISBN number in the record to
reach out to a cache developed between a number of libraries.
I know there are a number of cases where this may not apply, like
loose-leaf publications in binders that get updated, etc. And I'm sure
there are discussions around how to handle copyright, fair use, etc.
Do we as a community already have a similar endeavor in place?
Michael Lindsey
UC Berkeley Law Library
