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The Distributed Library Project
An anonymous reader writes "Mike Benham of thoughtcrime.org has started a cool project for sharing information and building community in San Francisco. From the website: "Unfortunately, the traditional library system doesn't do much to foster community. Patrons come and go, but there is very little opportunity to establish relationships with people or groups of people. In fact, if you try to talk with someone holding a book you like - you'll probably get shushed. The Distributed Library Project works in exactly the opposite way, where the very function of the library depends on interaction." It looks like the software is now available for other cities."
Definitely an interesting concept, but I'm just a little shy of letting some random person on the internet know where I live. Maybe I'm being paranoid, but how else would this work? For a similar, and I think safer idea, check out www.bookcrossing.com.
Beauty will lure a man into bed, but it won't bring him back a second time, unless he's awfully young or very stupid.
Yeah, except you didnt physically walk over to the owner of the media's home and borrow the music and then have to return it within a set time frame.
Maybe I'm the exception to the rule, but our local library has done a lot for fostering community. My wife has participated in the annual poetry contest and readings at the library. We have gotten to know our library staff, met people and our kids have discovered new materials through the connections that they have made at the library. I won't argue that this program has value, but your average local library is community-run, a center for local civic involvement and community programs and projects. The American Library Association puts community involvement at the heart of it's mission. In fact the major advertising campaign for this is called connect@the.library. Still, the project has merit, especially because the materials that your average library offers is limited by limited finances, and this might fit niches that go unfilled right now, like making high-end geek stuff available to others.
I would not want people coming directly to my house myself.
Since each member of this organization is like an independent lending archive, then this seems to suggest that lending copies of your materials should be fine so you can keep the originals.
If you disagree, I'd like to know which part of the copyright law supports your position. You'll find the part about fair use all nice and easy to read in HTML here at the LOC.
Since some commercial book stores already do it, how about adding a Starbucks, or something similar to your public library. In that 'zone', there would be no requirement for quietness. If you want quiet, then leave the coffee and go to the rest of the library.
;)
Also, how about 'community tables' in the coffee shop area? This is something I have already seen in some places. You can sit down at a large table and risk the chance of chatting to someone
What about damage? Well maybe you could have an 'in-library' check out. That way the books come under the same limitations as a normal checked out book.
In the long run, this should be similar to the Coffee sponsored Mozilla approach, so the library would get some return for doing this.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
Litigious bastards
I'm not sure about the US, but in Canada you can legally make copies of an original CD, and keep that copy once you give away the original.
As long as you don't copy a copy, or attempt to give or sell the copy, you're legally safe.
It doesn't work with software due to the EULA (if you agree to it), but music CDs don't get a shrinkwrap license (at least, not yet)
Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day, but teach a man to phish...