Leonard, Thomas C.

Helsingin yliopiston digitaalinen arkisto

    Keynote Address Is this any way to run a Library? Dealing with people who will not leave, search engines that want everything, and collections that do harm  Thomas C. Leonard UC Berkeley University, USA Association of Research Libraries, President  A.  Libraries and social protest  We have just had "sit-ins" in our libraries at Berkeley this fall as students protest budget cutbacks in the general university and what they call "privatization."   These may continue, and at this point it is not clear how many lessons there will be to discuss.    B.  Libraries in the age of Google Book Search  A hearing on the Google Book Search Settlement is now scheduled for Nov. 9 and the terms of access to this vast library may be much clearer by that time.  I know that I want to discuss the privacy issues highlighted by Google, but I am not sure if I will have a full agreement to discuss.    C.  Ethical dilemmas in putting collections on line  North American universities have had new ethical issues to face as they became publishers of information by digitizing paper collections and archiving web sites.  These libraries are open to charges of defamation, aiding discrimination, and even placing lives in danger.   

Is this any way to run a Library? Dealing with people who will not leave, search engines that want everything, and collections that do harm

Is this any way to run a Library?Dealing with people who will not leave, search engines that want everything, and collections that are dangerousSeminar on Information EthicsHelsinki, November 25, 2009Thomas C. LeonardUniversity Librarian,  University of California Berkeley Past President, Association of Research LibrariesMission:      Shaping the future of research libraries in the changing environment of public policy and scholarly communication.Members: 123 major research libraries in North America, including the national libraries and research publics.Ratios: 4 percent of the higher education institutions providing 43 percent of the information resources.Users: 4.2 million students and faculty served.Expenditures: $3.9 billion annually, $1.3 billion for acquisitions of which 46 percent is invested in access to electronic resources. The major barrier to library collaboration is:  Library staff (37%)Faculty (23%)Budgetary constraints (20%)Law/Policy makers (14%)University administration (6%)Results of informal audience responses from ARL May 2009 Membership MeetingDealing with people who will not leave…The official view of Berkeley’s Library:Some unofficial views:Dealing with search engines that want everything . . .• We have never met an intelligent mass digitization program that we did not like, e.g. Google Book Search, Open Content Alliance (Internet Archive partnering with Microsoft and Yahoo! at first)• Some 2.5 million of our volumes have been scanned by our partners.• Core values of access and privacy have been severely tested.Doubts about Google Book Search• We purchased, cataloged, and preserved millions of books, and now we are giving them away for free.• All corporations are run for the benefit of stockholders, not necessarily the general public.• Corporations abandon some of their products as they grow; eventually they go out of business.  Backing up, if these partners fail us:Currently Digitized        4,602,857 volumes 1,610,999,950 pages               171 terabytes 709,758 volumes (15% of total) in the public domain http://www.hathitrust.orgDealing with collections that are dangerous. . .What to do with content that puts reputations in danger in an age of networked information?The unhappy Rabbi.What to do with content– even meta-data– that puts lives in danger?Collections on genocide at University of Texas:http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/mm09heathbarnett.pps (23 mb file)Japanese maps: enlightening or discriminatory?http://luna.davidrumsey.com:8380/luna/servlet/view/search?search=Search&sort=Pub_Date%2CPub_List_No_Series_No_Sort%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&q=Zoshu-kaisei-Sesshu-Osaka-chizu&pgs=50&res=1In sum:Every step in running a research library today requires ethical review:  Are we doing the right thing?This is true because physical space is deeply symbolic and contested.This is true because our new capacity to network information raises questions we have not faced before.

Is this any way to run a Library? Dealing with people who will not leave, search engines that want everything, and collections that do harm

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Helsingin yliopiston digitaalinen arkisto

Helsingin yliopiston digitaalinen arkisto