Comments on: Will America's public domain treasures finally be freed? http://boingboing.net/2011/12/21/will-americas-public-domain.html Brain candy for Happy Mutants Wed, 22 May 2013 18:47:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: chenille http://boingboing.net/2011/12/21/will-americas-public-domain.html#comment-1302899 chenille Thu, 22 Dec 2011 21:05:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=135421#comment-1302899 Every now and then you see a scan of the old book where fold-outs have been treated as single pages, and flipped past, their contents skipped. Sometimes you see the very edge of an illustration. It does make me wonder just how much will be lost to history because people simply assume the digital copies cover everything. Every now and then you see a scan of the old book where fold-outs have been treated as single pages, and flipped past, their contents skipped. Sometimes you see the very edge of an illustration.

It does make me wonder just how much will be lost to history because people simply assume the digital copies cover everything.

]]> By: Carl Malamud http://boingboing.net/2011/12/21/will-americas-public-domain.html#comment-1302835 Carl Malamud Thu, 22 Dec 2011 20:17:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=135421#comment-1302835 Hi Seth. The Whitehouse system a little screwy, you can't delete a petition. So, there are indeed two that are live. The "correct" petition is linked from https://YesWeScan.Org/ but the text is identical on the other one, so no harm if people sign the other one. I'll petition the petition-master to combine the petitions if that becomes an issue. Hi Seth. The Whitehouse system a little screwy, you can’t delete a petition. So, there are indeed two that are live. The “correct” petition is linked from https://YesWeScan.Org/ but the text is identical on the other one, so no harm if people sign the other one. I’ll petition the petition-master to combine the petitions if that becomes an issue.

]]> By: Seth Kastner http://boingboing.net/2011/12/21/will-americas-public-domain.html#comment-1302791 Seth Kastner Thu, 22 Dec 2011 19:44:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=135421#comment-1302791 Hey, Cory and others, there are two identical (except for the titles) petitions on whitehouse.gov for this cause, both of which look to have been created by Carl Malamud.  In any case, the one linked to in the post above is not the same one that is linked from yeswescan.org (and this one has fewer signatures).  I signed both of them but I'd hate to see neither one reach critical mass since the signatures are split. Hey, Cory and others, there are two identical (except for the titles) petitions on whitehouse.gov for this cause, both of which look to have been created by Carl Malamud.  In any case, the one linked to in the post above is not the same one that is linked from yeswescan.org (and this one has fewer signatures).  I signed both of them but I’d hate to see neither one reach critical mass since the signatures are split.

]]> By: Florian Bösch http://boingboing.net/2011/12/21/will-americas-public-domain.html#comment-1302483 Florian Bösch Thu, 22 Dec 2011 09:29:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=135421#comment-1302483 Somebody set up us the public domain? Connect internet. UMG/Sony/Warner: All your content is belong to us. You have no chance to prevail in court make your time. For great justice! Somebody set up us the public domain? Connect internet.
UMG/Sony/Warner: All your content is belong to us. You have no chance to prevail in court make your time.
For great justice!

]]> By: DMStone http://boingboing.net/2011/12/21/will-americas-public-domain.html#comment-1302317 DMStone Thu, 22 Dec 2011 02:30:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=135421#comment-1302317 The phrase "A national digitization strategy can save money" is what is keeping me from signing this petition. The only way digitization "saves money" is by assuming the storage of the originals is no longer necessary. It is a simple fact from history that digitization almost always includes the destruction of the original sources. The phrase “A national digitization strategy can save money” is what is keeping me from signing this petition. The only way digitization “saves money” is by assuming the storage of the originals is no longer necessary. It is a simple fact from history that digitization almost always includes the destruction of the original sources.

]]> By: Guest http://boingboing.net/2011/12/21/will-americas-public-domain.html#comment-1302224 Guest Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:33:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=135421#comment-1302224 Often when we think of digitizing documents we think of OCR programs being processed by overworked government employees. But did you know that the latest trend is to crowd source armies of volunteers to do the transcription? Check out this initiative to transcribe thousands of US War Department documents from the 18th century - documents long thought to have been lost in a fire in 1805. You can sign up and start transcribing documents in minutes. http://wardepartmentpapers.org/ There is even open source software that can help you digitize archives of your own family or community via crowd sourcing. Check out: http://beta.fromthepage.com/ According to the developer's description "FromThePage is free software that allows volunteers to transcribe handwritten documents on-line. It's easy to index and annotate subjects within a text using a simple, wiki-like mark-up. Users can discuss difficult writing or obscure words within a page to refine their transcription. The resulting text is hosted on the web, making documents easy to read and search." It's brilliant software that I plan to introduce to our local historical society. Often when we think of digitizing documents we think of OCR programs being processed by overworked government employees. But did you know that the latest trend is to crowd source armies of volunteers to do the transcription? Check out this initiative to transcribe thousands of US War Department documents from the 18th century – documents long thought to have been lost in a fire in 1805. You can sign up and start transcribing documents in minutes. http://wardepartmentpapers.org/

There is even open source software that can help you digitize archives of your own family or community via crowd sourcing. Check out: http://beta.fromthepage.com/ According to the developer’s description “FromThePage is free software that allows volunteers to transcribe handwritten documents on-line. It’s easy to index and annotate subjects within a text using a simple, wiki-like mark-up. Users can discuss difficult writing or obscure words within a page to refine their transcription. The resulting text is hosted on the web, making documents easy to read and search.” It’s brilliant software that I plan to introduce to our local historical society.

]]> By: Elissa Malcohn http://boingboing.net/2011/12/21/will-americas-public-domain.html#comment-1302215 Elissa Malcohn Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:16:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=135421#comment-1302215 LOC is trying -- not just scanning, but creating a searchable database.  They're also asking for help: http://blogs.loc.gov/copyrightdigitization/2011/12/public-access-to-historical-records/ LOC is trying — not just scanning, but creating a searchable database.  They’re also asking for help:
http://blogs.loc.gov/copyrightdigitization/2011/12/public-access-to-historical-records/

]]> By: Jim Saul http://boingboing.net/2011/12/21/will-americas-public-domain.html#comment-1302200 Jim Saul Wed, 21 Dec 2011 23:44:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=135421#comment-1302200 Signed #65. I'd also like to see some kind of team of special forces librarians who can zip line in to save priceless libraries like that getting destroyed in Egypt right now. Signed #65.

I’d also like to see some kind of team of special forces librarians who can zip line in to save priceless libraries like that getting destroyed in Egypt right now.

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