Monday, September 27, 2010

The Commons: Britt

1. According to David Bollier, libraries are absolutely essential in a democracy. This is because when you go to a library you are not limited to how many books you can read or limited to the degree of information you would like to learn. Bollier said, "They are committed to the free flow of knowledge, which is indispensable in a democracy." The fact that libraries provide infinite amounts of knowledge just waiting for people to utilize is an incredible thing. There are so many things I would love to know about this world, and I feel a library book would do me more justice than a Google search, for example. In saying that, libraries and the Internet are very much alike. They both provide free services, most of the time, to facts, ideas and concepts we want to know more or learn about.

2. Siva Vaidhyanathan describes "anarchy in the library" by basically saying there is no control within the library system, yet that's what everyone wants: control. But, then again, there are people out there such as educators, artists and hackers who are trying to promote "liberating information". But, that in itself is a form of control as well because it's a way of changing things from the "norm". Vaidhyanathan essentially hopes there will some day be a balance between corporate control of the public libraries and consumers out in the world who simply want to share or obtain knowledge.

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