Week 6: Library 2.0

I really enjoyed the video that related to this week's topic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE

At the end, it talks about the age of digitisation meaning that we'll have to rethink a few things, like copyright, authorship and commerce. The idea of Library 2.0 is that the concept of the library itself will need to be rethought.

There's a big conflict in the music and movie industry right now over copyright and the internet. The problem is that our whole economy only works when an object is limited in supply. No one makes money off air or sunlight, but they do from water. Once upon a time, a particular music recording was limited in supply. But digitisation, the internet, and the web 2.0 concept of file sharing has meant that a music track can be reproduced millions of times every second. Attempts by the industry to shut down this copyright infringement is largely futile.

The same thing could very easily happen with books. The only reason it hasn't already is because no one has found a digital replacement for the printed paper book that has gained widespread appeal. The new e-book readers may one day do this. When they do, it is easy to see a world where any book you wish to read can be downloaded free and illegally from the internet in seconds.

The only thing stopping this change is the economy, so perhaps it is the economy which needs to change. A world where all books are available free and immediately to anyone who has a computer and internet connection isn't a bad thing. But what motivation would authors have to write books in a world where there is no paycheque? Personal satisfaction? How would people find the time when they have to work another fulltime job to support themselves financially?

If all those problems were solved, I can see the library becoming a virtual place ... perhaps the building will be replaced with a website gateway. Shelving, issuing, dealing with returns ... all these tasks will be a thing of the past, but people will still be needed to perform new jobs that haven't been invented yet. Or perhaps the old jobs, but just in different forms.