I think our goals (and what I mean by "one webpage for every book") significantly overlap. I'm talking about representing every book properly on the web, with open data, etc... I don't think it's something other people will do.
It's true, if you want to unseat OCLC then you need to do this with MARC and Z39.50, etc... Implementing those technologies alongside webpages and good JSON and RDF data would have a huge impact for libraries. On the other hand, I think that situation is much more challenging than what I see as an already lofty goal. It's also more about libraries and their politics than anything fundamental about books, access, or the web. - Tom On Wed, Mar 6, 2013 at 1:57 PM, Tim Spalding <[email protected]> wrote: > FWIW, as someone at the first meeting, I thought "one webpage for > every book" a bad road to go down. Lots of other people can do that. > It's not that interesting. > > I was hoping that it could be a large open repository of book data, > for people and especially for libraries. For starters, I hoped it > would replace OCLC, the powerful, expensive library data monopoly > libraries suffer under. Replace it and improve on it. OL missed that > chance. It got huge amounts of data from libraries–and then gave > nothing back. Sure, there were APIs, but it didn't play at all with > standard library protocols and formats. So libraries gave a lot, got > nothing back and largely forgot about it. > > Many of you have heard of SkyRiver, a company that tried to take OCLC. > They ended up suing OCLC for antitrust violations, particularly for > using their unique power to force companies not to play with > competitors. Earlier this week SkyRiver folded, the rump getting > combined into another company, and dropped its suit. > > It would be nice to see OL take that up—to make bibliographic freedom > a key agenda. I know Aaron was inspired by that goal. But I don't know > where it went. > > Sorry for the harshness. > > Tim > > On Wed, Mar 6, 2013 at 3:15 PM, Tom Johnson <[email protected]> wrote: > >> I see some possible different nuances in goals: worldwide catalogue of > all > >> books vs. catalogue for e-books hosted by IA, API access vs. web access, > >> only open data vs. more data regardless of openness. > > > > For my part, the goal is to retain the mission of "One webpage for every > > book." That's what I'm saddened to see fading away. > > > > - Tom > > > > > > On Wed, Mar 6, 2013 at 12:11 PM, Ben Companjen <[email protected]> > > wrote: > >> > >> Not to disregard your other (good) points, but perhaps it's a good > >> idea to take a small step back to see "what is OL's goal again?" > >> This might help set priorities for the more technical issues. > >> > >> I don't think there is a need to go in a completely different > >> direction, but I do believe different people may be here for different > >> reasons. For example, I see some possible different nuances in goals: > >> worldwide catalogue of all books vs. catalogue for e-books hosted by > >> IA, API access vs. web access, only open data vs. more data regardless > >> of openness. > >> > >> Using the wiki pages on OpenLibrary.org makes sense (as long as noone > >> at IA thinks it enough and pulls the plug, which is unlikely), > >> together with this and other OL mailinglists. > >> > >> Ben > >> > >> On 6 March 2013 10:30, John Rigdon <[email protected]> wrote: > >> > I have spent some time perusing the bios of the various people working > >> > with Internet Archive and viewing some presentations done by George > and > >> > others. I think a working group - call it a comittee if you must - as > >> > suggested earlier is needed to begin setting some objectives and > >> > responding to interested users. > >> > > >> > As I see it now we need to address three areas: > >> > > >> > 1. What technical issues need to be addressed for OL. > >> > 2. How can we best organize for cleaning and extending the OL data > >> > 3. Assigning and encouraging volunteers to address projects > >> > > >> > What do we need to do to get a wiki or some other platform set up? I > >> > can > >> > do so on one of my domains, but if we can get the setup or access here > >> > on > >> > OL or Internet Archive I think it will be best. I think a first step > >> > needs to be a working of the existing help pages / user documentation > to > >> > make it more usable / accessible for non-techies. While I have > >> > extensive > >> > experience in the web and programming, I have found it quite tedious > to > >> > navigate and sort through what is currently there. > >> > > >> > John Rigdon > >> > > >> > > >> > _______________________________________________ > >> > Ol-tech mailing list > >> > [email protected] > >> > http://mail.archive.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ol-tech > >> > To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send email to > >> > [email protected] > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Ol-tech mailing list > >> [email protected] > >> http://mail.archive.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ol-tech > >> To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send email to > >> [email protected] > > > > > > > > > > -- > > -Tom Johnson > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Ol-tech mailing list > > [email protected] > > http://mail.archive.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ol-tech > > To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send email to > > [email protected] > > > > > > -- > Check out my library at http://www.librarything.com/profile/timspalding > _______________________________________________ > Ol-tech mailing list > [email protected] > http://mail.archive.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ol-tech > To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send email to > [email protected] > -- -Tom Johnson
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