On Thu, Feb 17, 2011 at 12:51 PM, David B. Shemano <[email protected]> wrote: > Plato complained about the move from memory to literacy. Paper is more > fragile than stone, clay and animal hides, but much less expensive and more > accessible to more people. Electronic books extend the trend. There are > tradeoffs to everything. As a result of the move to electronic information, > more people have more access to more information. Be a progressive, not a > reactionary. >
Digital information definitely has its place. I am a big fan and frequent user of both Google books and Amazon not to mention Google scholar. There are a few exceptional indie bookstores around that I hope continue to prosper but in general I do not have any sentimental attachment to the idea of small indie bookstores. However, we should be careful to make a distinction between *archiving* and access. Digital formats greatly improve access and we all benefit from that. I'd suggest, however, that digital formats are fundamentally poorly suited for long-term archiving. This is not Ludditism but simply a factual observation as I see it. -raghu. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
