Let’s hope that publishers, and the makers of copyright law, will indeed become more library friendly. At the same time, as I’ve emphasized, the DPLA and America’s libraries need more: enough financial resources. How do you feel about the idea of a national digital library endowment, with both public and academic libraries benefiting (ideally, as I see it, in separate but very tightly intertwined systems)? Those are the details that I wish the DPLA people would spent much more time discussing. I’m delighted to see your own open-mindedness toward new business models. The DPLA is still not paying nearly enough attention to the library needs of the non-elite, which can’t be served without more resources being available. That said, I couldn’t agree with you more that the organization still has the power to change—the reason I’m speaking up now. I’m rooting mightily for the success of the demo. That certainly could help the endowment idea to which I linked in the “Five Laws” post.

Right now you must be hyper-busy with the move to Boston as well as with planning for the DPLA’s eagerly awaited debut next month, but if your schedule somehow allows, I would be happy to get together with you face to face in Northern Virginia about steps toward the creation of the endowment. I myself favor a government agency. But let’s get the idea out there and see how various stakeholders, from local librarians to IMLS, would feel. A wiki/forum mix, with major efforts made to court currently under-represented communities, like K-12 and small-town public librarians, could be excellent as a planning tool toward refinement of the endowment proposal. It could be that many will be too busy with their routines to participate. But it would be wonderful to give them a chance.

Beyond more attention paid to the financial side and wooing of potential contributors with sufficient interest in public library needs, I’d also like to see other improvements, especially in the K-12 area. In fact, later today or tonight I’ll publish some observations from Donald Smith, a teacher and school librarian for 40 years in private and public schools, and I hope they’ll be similarly helpful. Like me, Don wants higher standards in schools (our championing of the non-elite is not an effort to dumb down libraries or schools—just the opposite!), and no small part of this would be the fostering of good research skills. This is one area where the DPLA really has a chance to shine with links to outstanding source materials from the Smithsonian, the National Archives and countless other places, if it can devote enough resources to helping teachers and students make the best use of them. We need to look far beyond providing and distributing stellar unencumbered metadata.

On another detail, one more reason why the DPLA is lucky to have you as executive director is your interest in the development of good tools for creating unencumbered content (I’d intended to write that letter to Bob and John—though I think your being executive director will, in a good sense, render that matter less urgent). As with the other things mentioned above, that’ll require sufficient resources, which an endowment could help make available. Volunteers are great. But the DPLA needs to be driven most of all by national needs, as opposed to the interests of techie volunteers, however brilliant, even though their inspired input is also essential.

No need for a detailed reply right now. But perhaps this note will be handy, as a compilation of talking points for a telephone or in-person chat later on.

Best wishes,
David
703-370-6540

David

Update: Actually it might be Thursday or Friday (or a little later). Swamped today. – David

Further update: Next week, actually–I want to catch up with a Department of Ed report.

The National Digital Library should provide a setting where one can develop skills necessary to locate, analyze, evaluate, interpret, and communicate information and ideas in an information-rich world. It should encourage all to realize their potential as informed citizens who think critically and solve problems, to observe rights and responsibilities relating to the generation and flow of information and ideas, and to appreciate the value of literature in an educated society.

It needs to serve all individuals in the community–not only the most powerful, the most vocal or even the majority, but all of the citizens. The collection has to include materials to meet the needs of all, including the gifted, as well as the reluctant readers, the mentally, physically, and emotionally impaired, and those from a diversity of backgrounds. It should strive to maintain a diverse collection that represents various points of view on current and historical issues, as well as a wide variety of areas of interest to all served.

The National Digital Library should be the symbol to us of our most cherished freedom–the freedom to speak our minds and hear what others have to say.

Therefore, I totally support David Rothman and his crusade to provide a program for our citizens which will be critical for our nation’s future intellectual growth.

David Rothman