The NEOCAG
<<<QUARTERLY>>>
A Summary of Events and
Topics of Interest to Online Genealogists
NORTHEAST OHIO COMPUTER-AIDED GENEALOGY society
compiled by Luther Olson
Vol. 11 No. 2 SPECIAL
EDITION, April 1, 2006
Published May 20, 2006
NorthEast Ohio Computer-Aided Genealogy
[NEOCAG] serves
Eastern Cuyahoga, Lake, Geauga, Ashtabula,
Portage &
Summit Counties.
Regular meetings 2nd Saturday of each month
St. Bartholomew Episcopal Church
435 S.O.M. Road, Mayfield Village, OH.
Cynthia
Turk--President
Marcy Milota--Editor
IN THIS ISSUE:
> News And Views
> Building The Digital Library,
Mary Sue
Coleman—President of the University of Michigan
=========================================================
> News And Views
I regret that this issue is coming out so late. Many
of you know that at the present time I am facing a time when family issues have
priority, and they may continue for some time to come. With special trips
to Wyoming and numerous days spent in doctors’ offices or the hospital, my
normal obligations often get pushed aside. Most of you have already been
through times like this, and know well what it is like.
However, there is something that I view to be special that I
would like to send to you, even though late. We in NEOCAG attempt to keep
you all up to date in recent developments, either through our presentations or
our publications. It is interesting to note, however, that sometimes the
things that turn out to be the most important to our genealogy efforts are
things that were never intended for genealogy any more than they were for any
other part of our various activities.
Specifically, it was a few months back when we first were
informed that Google, Yahoo and MSN were contracting with some of the worlds’
largest cities and universities to scan and digitize ALL the books in their
respective libraries. The intent was to make all this information
searchable and available to all. The scope of a project like this is
almost beyond comprehension—millions of books and periodicals are to be scanned
page by page. As one would expect, the cost is enormous.
However, when Google first began this project, our news
sources were filled with stories of a problem. How could they copy and
make all this work ready to send into every home and institution without
breaking the copyright laws that protect the creative property of innumerable
authors? Within days, however, the news moved on to other topics and (I suspect
at least most of us) were never informed of any progress on this situation--or
any resolution.
I was therefore pleased to receive the Spring 2006 issue of
Michigan Today newsletter that contained a wonderful article by Mary Sue
Coleman, President of the U. of Michigan on this topic. Her article first
appeared in the Washington Post on October 22, 2005. The U. of Michigan
was one of the original five universities that have partnered with Google to
make their libraries’ contents available online. Here the President
explains the procedures, and the reason she feels that there should be no
further concern about this project.
=========================================================
> Building The Digital Library,
Mary Sue Coleman--President of the University of Michigan
Some authors and publishers have cried foul regarding
Google’s digital library initiative, sparking debate about intellectual
property rights in an online age. Beyond the specific legal challenges
emerging in the wake of such a sea change, there are deeply important public
policy issues at stake. We must not lose sight of the transformative
nature of Google’s plan or the public good that can come from it.
Throughout history, most of the world’s printed knowledge
has been created, preserved, and used only by society’s elites—those for whom
education and power meant access to the great research libraries. Now,
groundbreaking tools for mass digitization are poised to change that
paradigm. We believe the result can be a widening of human conversation
comparable to the emergence of mass literacy itself.
Google plans to make its index searchable to every person in
the world who enjoys access to the internet. For those works that remain
in copyright, a search will reveal brief excerpts along with information about
how to buy the work or borrow it from a public library. Searches of work
in the public domain will yield access to complete texts online.
Imagine what this means for scholars and the general public,
who, until now, might have discovered only a fraction of the material written
on a subject. Or picture a small, impoverished school—in America or
anywhere in the world—what does not have access to a substantial library but
does have an internet connection.
This enormous shift is already upon us. Students
coming to my campus today belong to the Net Generation. By the time they
were in middle school, the internet was a part of their daily lives. As
we watch the way our students search for and use information, this much is
clear: If information is not digitized it will not be found.
Libraries and educational institutions are the only entities
whose mission is to preserve knowledge through the centuries. It is a
crucial role, one outside the interest of corporate entities and separate from
the whims of the market. If libraries do not archive and curate, there is
substantial risk that entire bodies of work will be lost.
Universities and the knowledge they offer should be
accessible by all.
We must continue to ensure access to the vast intellectual
opportunity and knowledge we generate and preserve. The digitization of
information is a profound gesture that holds open our doors. Limiting
access to information is tantamount to limiting the opportunities of our
citizens.
Criticism of the Google library project revolves around
questions of intellectual property. Universities are no strangers to the
responsible management of complex copyright, permission, and security issues,
we deal with them every day in our classrooms, libraries, laboratories and
performance halls. We will continue to work with the correct criteria for
fair use as we move ahead with digitization.
But we believe deeply that this endeavor exemplifies the
spirit under which our nation’s copyright law was developed: to encourage the
free exchange of ideas in the service of innovation and societal
progress. The protections of copyright are designed to balance the rights
of the creator with the rights of the public. At its core is the most
important principle of all: to facilitate the sharing of knowledge, not to
stifle such exchange.
No one believed more fervently in the diffusion of knowledge
than Thomas Jefferson, who resurrected the Library of Congress, using his own
books, after its predecessor was destroyed by fire. We must continue to
heed his message:
“And it cannot be but that each generation succeeding to the
knowledge acquired by all those who preceded it, adding to it their own
acquisitions and discoveries, and handing the mass down for successive and
constant accumulation, must advance the knowledge and well-being of mankind,
not infinitely, as some have said, but indefinitely, and to a term which no one
can fix and foresee.”
I worry that we are unnecessarily fearful of a world
where our libraries can be widely accessed and that our fear will strangle the
exchange of ideas so critical to our Founders. As these technologies
are developed, our policies must help ensure that people can find information
and that printed works are preserved for future generations.
=========================================================
CONTRIBUTIONS:
When you come across something you think would be of
interest to others who are involved in genealogy, whether it be about
genealogy, software, or hardware, please send it to our editor, Marcy Milota at
< milota@jcu.edu>.
Please include your name and all credits of author and
publication. Information from online genealogy newsletters can be used
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Articles from Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter have a
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