Worrying about Losing Obsolete Information
March 9, 2015
Ready to hear another side to the endangered library argument that has been tossed around since the 1990s? Hopes and Fears revives people’s worries about losing data from obsolete mediums and how libraries are evolving rather than disappearing in “The Near And Far Future Of Libraries.” The article points out the same old fears that some obsolete mediums have not been transitioned to a digital archive yet and they might be forgotten. It also mentions that libraries are transforming their spaces into gathering places for people to study, read, and meet (like that is new).
Mixed in with the fear of disappearing libraries, new ways that artificial intelligence is helping to preserve knowledge and help people learn how to harness their information is discussed. Some new insights about how libraries are changing are made, but the bulk of the article is very disorganized and is hard to tie together.
Some valid ideas made include that centralizing too much information on Web sites like Wikipedia, social media networks, and even the Internet Archive are dangerous, because one Web site is easier to block than hundreds. Another important advantage is that more interactive technology tools are actually helping people better use their information. Robots like Vincent and Nancy from Westport Library are an example of how people can better physically interact with information and use it to their advantage.
What is the most interesting archival idea presented is the Rosetta Disk, a thin nickel disk three inches in diameter that holds over 14,000 pages of information. While it is meant to preserve knowledge for ready access in the future it is also is good backup:
“We aren’t creating the Rosetta Disk specifically with an apocalypse in mind, or for a society that’s undergoing major upheaval, but over the span of millennia, I think you have to expect that to happen occasionally. In that case, the Rosetta Disk is a good long-term backup. You might think of it as a “secret decoder ring” for information we leave for the future in human language form.”
Libraries and information are changing. We do have to preserve obsolete knowledge before it degrades and we have to upgrade libraries for them to remain relevant. It is very similar to old historical sites with low visitor attendance. They are changing the way they interact with people and presenting their historical information to draw people to them. Do not be fearful, embrace the change.
Whitney Grace, March 09, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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