Rated
Jul 16 2007
•
8 reviews
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open source, books, archives, freetools
• openlibrary.org
The Open Library
via Metafilter / chunking express, in The Open Library
What if there was a library which held every book? Not every book on sale, or every important book, or even every book in English, but simply every book's key part of our planet's cultural legacy.
First, the library must be on the Internet. No physical space could be as big or as universally accessible as a public web site. The site would be like Wikipedia's public resource that anyone in any country could access and that others could rework into different formats.
Second, it must be grandly comprehensive. It would take catalog entries from every library and publisher and random Internet user who is willing to donate them. It would link to places where each book could be bought, borrowed, or downloaded. It would collect reviews and references and discussions and every other piece of data about the book it could get its hands on.
But most importantly, such a library must be fully open. Not simply "free to the people," as the grand banner across the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh proclaims, but a product of the people: letting them create and curate its catalog, contribute to its content, participate in its governance, and have full, free access to its data. In an era where library data and Internet databases are being run by money-seeking companies behind closed doors, it's more important than ever to be open.
The Open Library
A grandiose project that I hope succeeds.
Try to imagine a place on the net where all the books of the world could be found. That's quite exciting indeed.
