Tag Archives: Berkman Center

Q. & A. with DPLA leader John Palfrey on closed meetings, the controversial P Word and other governance issues

We’re indebted to the Digital Public Library of America, hosted by Harvard’s Berkman Center, for raising interest in the national digital library issue. At the same time, questions persist on topics ranging from the DPLA’s closed steering committee meetings to the “Public” in the organization’s name. Ahead are replies from DPLA Chair John Palfrey. Thanks, [...]

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Hacking a secretive ‘public’ library group: Let’s ask DPLA steering committee members how they voted—and about open meetings vs. a Porcellian Club approach

Update, Oct. 20, 2012: I’m pleased to report that the DPLA is now far more open than before, especially in regard to remote participation. Should the Harvard-hosted Digital “Public” Library of America drop the “P” word from its name? COSLA, short for the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies, fears that this branding competition could [...]

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Flaws of Harvard-hosted Digital ‘Public’ Library of America: Too secretive, too oligarchical and not responsive enough to U.S. library needs—especially for modern e-books

Update, Oct. 20, 2012: The DPLA is now much more open than in the past, and I can now strongly recommend the group to prospective funders. A fashionable line in the media these days is, “Elections have consequences.” So does governance, whether of the local Rotary Club, the United States of America, or a Harvard-hosted group [...]

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DPLA still clinging to ‘Public’ in name—despite risks to the franchise and branding of America’s public libraries

When is a library truly “public” in the traditional American sense, the one on which thousands of genuinely public libraries have built their branding? Should the Digital Public Library of America protect public libraries’ franchise and branding by dropping the “Public” from the DPLA’s name? Most emphatically. And along the way, the DPLA should reorganize [...]

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A new LibraryCity: The ‘what’ and ‘who’ and how you can help—with your own essays

Update, May 3, 2013: Given the different needs of typical patrons of public and academic libraries, we are now advocating two tightly intertwined but separate systems. The old LibraryCity wanted millions of e-books and other items on the Net—and to make them part of America’s library and school systems. But it ran into a little [...]

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