Rare books offer information at hand — no buttons to push

After reading the prompt, I became really interested in learning how people track down rare or historic books. I came across an article on a women who finds rare books for people who love to read historic books on a specific subject. What I found out was extremely interesting. The women actually tracks down these books through the internet. I found it extremely interesting that someone who makes a livelihood entirely through selling hard copies of books actually buys them over the internet. It makes me think about how the internet has really enhanced the sale of hard copy books as well as hinder the sell of books through e-books.

As I thought about the concept of tracking down rare books a little more closely, I realized this is a great example of how hard copies of books are so important to the book market. Electronic books allow for there to be as many copies of book we want there to be at any given time. However with published hard copies of books, there will only be a certain amount of books from the time period the book was first published making the economic worth of the book sky rocket with time. However, electronic books will never really be worth an individual value because they come on devices that hold many other books and information, therefore they lose the same individuality that written and bound books have because they have no unique characteristics setting them apart.

After spending some time in the print making studio, I learned a whole new version of the idea of “hands on”. For as long as I can remember, I have thought of reading a hard copy of a book as being hands on. Then on yesterday, I realized the real hands on approach is actually the making of the book. Although the machine we saw yesterday is not used anymore to print, I was still overly impressed with the amount of work it took just to make a six line paragraph. Just the preparation alone took up an enormous amount of time. I think this version of print really gives a correct name to sometihng being “hands on”.

I have to say, I was impressed with the roller printing. On one hand, it seemed really tedious to have to set all the type and make it fit where you wanted it to be. On the other hand, in regards to digital printing, I felt that the actual process of getting the words onto a page was very simple. Just roll the sheet over and then the page is done. To make multiple copies would require more physical effort, but still not to the point where doing so would feel wasted. What surprised me the most was the fact that even if it is less advanced than modern printers, there were still even simpler methods of printing which required more work. If typesetting was the most difficult part of the roller, then what would the process be like if it were something that did not use electricity, if printing had to be even more manual? To take that further, to imagine entire books to be printed from even just the roller seemed tedious, how much more so on something more difficult to use?

I hadn’t really thought about how ebooks would impact libraries. Whenever I want a book for my kindle I typically just go online, buy it, and within minutes I am reading. Whenever I want to borrow a book I still go to the library and checkout a book to have in my hands. The idea of borrowing books by using my kindle is great! I wouldn’t have to go back to the library to make a return and I could have the book when I wanted it. It seems as if the process is more of a pain than it is worth. From the articles it seems like lending ebooks should not even be an option. How do you think the issues will be fixed and do you think libraries might pull the option to lend ebooks?

http://www.npr.org/2012/05/29/153900929/libraries-grapple-with-the-downside-of-e-books

http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2012/librarian-patience-has-run-out-on-e-book-lending-issues-library-association-says/

I read an article today regarding Japan and the implement of relatively new online piracy laws. It was just made official that in Japan, anyone who possesses music or movies that were downloaded illegally can go to jail for as long as two years. This may sound like a long time, but in the United States it seems as if piracy laws are much harsher, with the maximum jail time for online piracy instead being 5 years. I wonder why piracy laws are harsher in the United States? Why is it that Japan seems to be a little less concerned with those who download things illegally?

Article: japans-new-fine-for-illegal-downloads-2-years-in-jail.html

I was reflecting upon this prompt and thinking about my upcoming mass media sociology class. In this class we talk a lot about the ways in which media both passively and actively acts on society. In a technological age we are constantly being bombarded by all sorts of media messages from the ads on the side of the page to pop ups. It is so easy to create a facebook advertisement and even target it at the exact demographic it applies to. This shows just how far removed our society has become from the hands-on manual intensive letter press. Asks a lot of questions about where our media messages come form. It is interesting to think about how the presses each had their own logo and signature. Often times the people who actually create our current media are far removed from the media we consume.

Steve Westbrook states in “Composition and Copyright” that “technological development has both presented challenges to and opened new outlets for the creation and distribution of copyrighted works”. One thing that I immediately think of after reading this statement is the creation of ebooks, which certainly do open new outlets while simultaneously presenting challenges, one of the more obvious challenges being that they do not offer what I would call a hands on approach. To me, an hands on approach means being able to actually touch and feel the letters on a page, as was exhibited in the prints done in class on Thursday. I do not think that reading an ebook allows an individual to get “hands on” with the writing being read, but rather with technology itself.

source: docDetail.action?docID=10588681

At the end of this post I have the link to the digital collection of portraits of the Marquis de Lafayette. We have discussed the importance of being able to hold and examine old books and text in person but do you think it is just as important with pictures? You can look up the pictures online and see the colors and detail but do you feel that having the work in person allows you to appreciate it more? http://digital.lafayette.edu/collections/lafayetteprints

The term hands on can be taken quite literally, a tangible object that can be held and manipulated in some form. A book or newspaper could be seen as hands-on, but with electronics I feel like this term has changed. Interactive websites and even apps on our phone allow us to be hands-on in a new way. We are capable of learning in a way that allows us to do so from the comfort of our own home and on our home time. However, is the use of technology to be hands-on on our own time and in the comfort of our own home really conducive to our learning and understanding of material?

I went onto Youtube to see if it included any videos that referenced the Copyright Act of 1710. What popped up in the search results, however, were videos with a disclaimer about the Copyright Act of 1976. I clicked on a random video to read the entire description: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE1inwUqedI

ALL RIGHTS GO TO PINK FOR HER SONG RAISE YOUR GLASS.
“Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.”

The law itself reads, “…[T]he fair use of a copyrighted work…for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright” (Copyright Law of the United States of America).

Although we have begun to discuss copyright in depth, I have never actually read the current copyright law in this country. After having read it, however, I better appreciate how it maintains everyone’s First Amendment Rights while protecting citizens’ intellectual property.