For now, see our introductory post. We are seeking to enrich the Harvard/Berkman discussion of the national digital library issue, but are not a Harvard site (even though a LibraryCity cofounder attended a Berkman workshop on March 1, 2011).
Nor are we a competitor of the Harvard initiative. Rather this site is simply offering a grassroots perspective on the issue for Harvard, the Library of Congress, the ALA, and others. Especially we are interested in the digital divide and in the creation of separate public and academic national digital systems, so that K-12 needs and others of the non-elite are not neglected. We are noncommercial and do not accept donations (too much paperwork).
Founders:
Tom Peters is a veteran academic librarian, a long-time advocate of public libraries and former director of the Center for Library Initiatives of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, as well as a “Mover and Shaker” honoree in Library Journal. Formerly a digital strategist at Illinois State, he is now dean of university library services at Missouri State. For years, Tom has been interested in accessibility issues of the kind the LibraryCity site discusses.
David Rothman founded TeleRead (since sold to North American Publishing), believed to be the oldest English-language site devoted to general news and views on e-books, including library uses. He has written on the national digital library cause for publications ranging from TheAtlantic.com to the Chronicle of Higher Education. As a writer, he is a copyright holder, but he is well-known online for his advocacy of less restrictive copyright law.
For time reasons—Tom has been snowed under with work-related matters and is not presently involved in day-to-day operation of this site, although he hopes to share commentaries when time allows—David is the primary contributor. Like David, Tom believes in the need for separate public and academic digital systems. In fact, it was he who sensitized David to the importance of this issue.
Opinions of LibraryCity contributors are their own and not necessarily ours, and vice versa. Likewise the views here do not necessarily represent those of any organizations with which Tom or David is affiliated.
Contact info: davidrothman@pobox.com and 703.370.6540.
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