Yes, ample digital access is ideal, though the process of making digital copies and making these available is also extremely high.
About 15 years ago I did some work for the (then) Boethius Press. We even completed most of the preparation for a facsimile of the Broxbourne and Lambeth Palace song books (the ones with theorbo/archlute tablature). The basic photographs alone cost about $3500 dollars (that I paid); the half tones at least as much again. This is not the sort of photography one can do with even a good standard digital SLR; a studio digital is needed with all the supporting equipment, and the labour is intensive. At the time, the owner/publisher of Boethius said the up-front costs of a standard-size facsimile (such as the Board Book, etc.) was more than 21,000 pounds, before printing. About the same time, i a different context, Ron Broude of Broude Bros. said that a single binding (only, exclusive of the paper inside) for one of the volumes of the Monuments of Music and Music Literature in Facsimile (say, the Thomas Mace book) was then about $30 U.S. That is why Broude Bros. started the Perfor! mer's Facsimile series, so they could do all production in-house. In addition, to be fully useful to researchers, digital books are generally tagged (hidden search terms in the XML coding) so they can be searched. This is very expensive. Also, it is important to realize that a facsimile is not literally an exact copy. There are many things for which one needs the original. It takes a term course to explain them all (many colleges have these courses), but in brief, some include watermarks, the smell of the book, the texture of the paper, the structural nature of the binding (something a good conservator tries to reproduce in a restoration), almost invisible markings (due to stain, faded ink, etc.), and the supporting documents in the Library itself. In addition, librarians in research libraries are constantly poking around and discovering things no one has noticed before. Because they are busy, they generally get to do this when a patron (user) asks for supplemental materials. With prodding, librarians remember things they have not seen for many years. The biggest cost of serious research is travel, not access. Gordon J Callon School of Music Acadia University Wolfville Nova Scotia Canada B4P 2R6 http://ace.acadiau.ca/score/site-map.htm -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wed 4/11/2007 5:26 PM To: Gordon Callon; [email protected] Subject: RE: [LUTE] Re: Some thoughts on accessibility of original sources of music Gordon, I think your message makes it clear that there _must_ be a concerted effort to digitize as much materials as soon as possible. Knowing this, who could care about global warming!? Those books will be gone long before Nebraska is under water if this keeps up. Sad, really. Chris --- Gordon Callon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > One must keep the cost of access to rare books in > proportion. > > I spend about two months per year looking at > manuscripts and early printed books at many > libraries, including major research libaries > (British Library, Yale Beinecke Library, Folger, > etc.), Cathedral librares, etc. > When I am there, many dozen other individuals are > also using similar materials, so these are not > hidden away where no one can see them. > Indeed, I am constantly amazed at the high level of > service at most of these libraries, generally for > free. I am neither British nor American, so > contribute nothing whasoever to the overhead costs > in the form of taxes or whatever to most that I > visit, yet I get equal service. > True, access to the materials is usually limited to > those with a documented reason for access, usually > research and publication. > BUT: these materials are often VERY fragile. At the > end of a long day sometimes my desk top looks like a > wedding has passed by, due to all the tiny bits of > paper fragments sprinkled on the desk, i.e., bits of > the books I have been viewing. > Research libraries are horrendously expensive to > operate: the books are very expensive (even the > libraries purchase a significant portion at the same > sales as everyone else), the books often need > extensive restoration and repair (one 17th-C book I > bought needed $600 of restoration - one book); staff > costs are tremendous (all the books are fetched from > the stacks [often great distances], there are > archivists and librarians to assist, many with PhDs > and equivalent, conservators [restorers], security, > etc.), and usually the buildings are huge and > expensive on some of the most valuable real estate > in the world. > [In addition, one camera setup for photographing > manuscripts, etc., used in a course I took at UNB, > cost $60,000 for the camera set-up alone, not > counting the staff or the dozen or so computers, > printers, and other equipment in the photo lab.] > > I am constantly amazed that access to rare books is > as cheap as it is [most often free, not counting > travel costs]. > > > Gordon J Callon > School of Music > Acadia University > Wolfville > Nova Scotia > Canada > B4P 2R6 > > http://ace.acadiau.ca/score/site-map.htm > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Wed 4/11/2007 1:43 PM > To: steve gottlieb; lute net > Subject: [LUTE] Re: Some thoughts on accessibility > of original sources of music > > --- steve gottlieb <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > even if a library is state-funded, it isn't > > necessarily > > completelystate-funded. and further, not all > > state-funded services are > > free. > > True, we pay for many state-run services. However, > the question remains: what services are libraries > actually providing if access to their holdings > (especially in some sort of computerized format) is > made difficult? Preservation? Merely keeping an > item > in a relative state of stasis seems rather pointless > if use of the information contained therein is > discouraged. In the case of written music it needs > to > be remembered that, as Alfonso pointed out, the book > is in fact NOT the music - unless it is in a > performer's hands. > > Consider this: how many of us would be driving cars > if > getting a limited one-month licence from the > government cost $200 each time we needed it? > > > Chris > > > > > > > > > On 4/10/07, Howard Posner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > wrote: > > > > > > On Tuesday, Apr 10, 2007, at 15:53 > > America/Los_Angeles, Denys Stephens > > > wrote: > > > > > > > I have a lot of sympathy with your view that > > > > art belongs to everyone,and in that sense we > > > > shouldn't have to pay for it. > > > > > > But Alfonso didn't say that. He said "these > books > > belong to humanity." > > > > > > > But if that's > > > > totally true, shouldn't we all perform for > > > > free and just give away our recordings to > people > > > > who like them? The major libraries of the > > > > world surely cost a lot of money to run, > > > > > > I think Alfonso's point is that the libraries > are > > state-funded > > > institutions, which means that they're paid > twice, > > in essence -- once > > > from taxes, and again from user fees -- and the > > user fees, while an > > > insignificant source of funds for the > institution, > > are high enough to > > > discourage the materials from actually being > used. > > > > > > > and > > > > if we pay them for copies of musical sources > > > > they own, are we not helping to preserve them > > > > for the benefit of future generations? - > > > > > > I suppose that's the idea. The question is > > whether it works that way > > > in practice. > > > > > > > > > > > > To get on or off this list see list information > at > > > > > > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > > > > > > -- > > > > > > > ____________________________________________________________________________________ > Finding fabulous fares is fun. > Let Yahoo! FareChase search your favorite travel > sites to find flight and hotel bargains. > http://farechase.yahoo.com/promo-generic-14795097 > > > > ____________________________________________________________________________________ We won't tell. Get more on shows you hate to love (and love to hate): Yahoo! TV's Guilty Pleasures list. http://tv.yahoo.com/collections/265 -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
