Abstract
In his recent book, “The World is Flat”, Thomas L. Friedman reviews the impact of networks on globalization. The emergence of the Internet, web browsers, computer applications talking to each other through the Internet, and the open source software, among others, made the world flatter and created an opportunity for individuals to collaborate and compete globally. Friedman predicts that “connecting all the knowledge centers on the planet together into a single global network… could usher in an amazing era of prosperity and innovation”. Networking also is changing the ways by which libraries and museums provide access to information sources and services. In the flat world, libraries and museums are no longer a physical “place” only: they are becoming “virtual destinations”. This paper discusses the implications of this transformation for the digitization and preservation of, and access to, cultural heritage resources.
Acknowledgments
I am grateful to Professor Mícheál Mac an Airchinnigh, Trinity College, University of Dublin, for his meticulous reading of an earlier draft of this paper, and thankfully acknowledge the comments of the two anonymous reviewers.
Notes
* Earlier versions of this paper appeared in [30,31].
1. The term “libraries” is used loosely in this paper to encompass libraries as well as other cultural heritage institutions such as archives that primarily preserve, and provide access to, graphic records (manuscripts as well as printed books) of humanity.
2. See University of California Library Statistics. http://www.slp.ucop.edu/stats/.
3. We do not aim to discuss the impact of all flatteners or summarize Friedman’s book, which is a thought-provoking reading. The book provides an opportunity to review the recent developments from Friedman’s liberal viewpoint and to reflect on their impact on the information world.
4. For the definition of the Protocol for Metadata Harvesting of Open Archives Initiative, see Citation[24].
5. For the OpenURL standard, see Citation[23] for more information on OpenURL and its applications, see Citation[33,1].
6. In addition to user “workflow”, Dempsey Citation[7] mentions user “learnflow”, “commuteflow”, “lifeflow”, and “research flow”, each of which requires users to get access to information sources and services.
7. The quotes come from the web site of DANA-WH (www.dana-wh.net). For a more detailed account of DANA, see Citation[4].
8. The Guide is available at http://www.ninch.org/programs/practice/.
9. For more information on “exabyte” (EB), see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exabyte.
10. For a thoughtful piece on the preservation of digital information, see Citation[21].
11. http://www.archive.org/web/web.php.
12. http://www.alexa.com/site/company/technology.
13. See http://cordis.europa.eu/ist/ka3/digicult/.
14. http://europa.eu.int/information_society/activities/digital_libraries/index_en.htm.
15. http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=2782.
16. http://europa.eu.int/information_society/activities/digital_libraries/cultural/actions_on/policy_actions/index_en.htm.
17. For more information on MINERVA (Ministerial Network for Valorising Activities in Digitisation), see http://www.minervaeurope.org/.
18. Information in this paragraph comes from the Europeana website (http://www.europeana.eu).
