Public Domain

This project blew me away! It was not only the most difficult, but also the most challenging! I am definantly I learned something like this because it taught me a lot. I learned how to create and run a better presentation with slides, a new way to tell a story and a great deal about copyright. I believe that everyones projects sounded and looked great! It was good to see the different kind of old and new picture and the stories they could tell! I would have changed the time arrangement for a longer period of time to introduce and to work on it because than everyone could have really gotten a good idea of a bigger story told by pictures some struggled with. Over all it taught me how to manage a research project into a story line with other peoples famous work.

Digital Archiving

I found this project to be quite challenging. It was a challenge to find appropriate photos that related to my topic. The photos that I found for my project that was not open for the public domain I had a time trying to find out how I could get the photos. I only had luck with one Librarian I contacted. Several of the photos I found that were not open for the public domain I struggled with trying to find a person to contact to get permission to use the photo. By doing this project I did learn more on researching images and photos. I believe I have more knowledge of images that are open to the public domain and images that have copyright restrictions and how to go about getting permission to use the copyright photos.

I believe the purpose of this project to give a more a feel for public domain and copyright and get us familiar with digital archives sites. I never knew that those sites were offered to the public. I also never know how to go about contacting a library for permission for usage of an image. I do think this was a good learning experience. It was a good way to familiarize the class with fair use, public domain, and copyright. I am a strong believer that actually doing hands on work is a better way of learning than sitting and listening to a professor talk about the topic.

Public Domain

When first seeing this project and the criteria for it I thought this project wasn't going to be hard at all. Well, I found out very quickly it was quite challenging. I not only had troubles finding research I had troubles finding pictures and then once I found the pictures I noticed that they were all copyrighted, so I had to find new pictures. Overall, I feel that this project was a good learning experience. It showed me how important copyright issues really are. One thing I found weird was some owner's of the pictures didn't mind if you used their picture and some wouldn't let me use their picture, even after I mentioned it was for a Collegiate research project.

I feel the point of this project was to show the meaning of copyright and how strict copyright laws actually are. I also feel the point of this project was to show us how to search and use the public domain.

Public Domain

This project was definitely a challenge. Although the photos took time to find since we were required to find the highest quality photos, seeing the incredible images was quite rewarding. I learned that there are many resources out there to find digital photos that are free to use and free from copyright. Not everyone out there is aiming to help others in exchange for money, but some enjoy sharing their wealth through images.

The point of this project was obviously to make use of the fantastic resources libraries put out for students and the public to use. The point was to become knowledgeable about librarians and how helpful they are (some at least). The point was to learn new programs and use the "public domain" to see what the internet has to offer. The point was to learn something new and be challenged, frustrated, and satisfied with the outcome and reassurance that I created something with the help of others.

Overall this project was a very good learning process and way to use new technology. It made me work hard to find something that is able to be used and shared with others for the benefit of education.

Public Domain

This project was definitely challenging...which ultimately means that I gained a lot from it. First of all, I gained the knowledge of the public domain. I learned what it was, how it works, the guidelines of it, etc. I think the knowledge of the public domain is going to to help me a lot in the future because it's a very powerful tool and it's applicable to almost all fields of study. I also gained the appreciation of history professors, librarians, and people who spend the time to put their work into the public domain through the creative commons. I liked the variety of people and things we worked with for this project. We didn't just deal with one program or look in one place for our images. We used a lot of different resources for the project and I thought that was really cool.
I think there were multiple points to this project. The first point was to learn about the public domain and how to search it. Second, to learn about the creative commons and the licenses that allow us to use the images. Third, it was to learn about the different digital archives that are all over the internet. Fourth, it was to learn the importance of librarians and how they can help us! They are very nice people and they love helping us. I don't know if learning about a topic in history was a point to this project, but I did learn a lot about my topic and I thought that was really interesting as well.  
Overall, I thought this project was very difficult...especially finding all of the images. It was hard to find images that really portrayed the historical research in the appropriate way. But it was a very important project that encompassed several different parts of the technological world. And as we all know, learning about technology is necessary for the future!

Discussion Questions

Well, as much as I don't want to admit it, I did learn some stuff from this (decidedly frustrating) project. Actually, I bet I learned a ton of stuff. One thing, I've never had to think about copyright at all as far as images are concerned, but once you start looking at that stuff you realize just how restricted almost everythiiiiiiing is. I couldn't believe how many images (and entire websites) have little (c)'s at the bottom next to the words "all rights reserved." How selfish is that. So selfish.

But also, it was good to get acquainted with the digital archives a bit (which were, like, not helpful at all for what I needed...I think with a lot of the archives we were looking at, a good deal depends on whether or not you are lucky enough for a certain archive to just happen to have a big collection relating to your subject. I mean, I looked in EVERY archive that was recommended on the assignment page, and could not even find a SINGLE map of the Punjab...which I thought maps would be, like, the most basic resource that exists). But it's good to be able to navigate those rascals I think. It doesn't hurt to have more resources.

Well, since we don't have any projects up yet, I'll just comment on mine, which was based on a very specific topic: Martyrdom in the Sikh Tradition (By Dr. Fenech). I didn't know anything about Sikhism, or martyrdom within Sikhism, and when I was reading Fenech's book, I understood very little of it. But what I got out of it was some basic facts about the religion and the emphasis this religion places on martyrdom. So I tried to put together some kind of little narrative that would give basic insight into Sikhism, with an emphasis on information relating to martyrdom. It was a pretty interesting project though, as difficult as it was, and I think it gave me a good idea of what it's like to be an image researcher. Which is something I will never. ever. do.

Digital Project

Personally I found this project to be very difficult. I am not one of the smartest people when it comes to using a computer even though I have grown up with a computer. Even though we did spend Tuesday and Thursday on the project I wish that we had a little more time in class to ask questions because I feel that some of us were in the same boat and could have pooled our questions together. I did find this project to be very helpful though with the fact that as part of my communication degree that I may have to do this exact same thing in my work place, where I wont have as much time to be able to ask the questions to finish the assignment. Once I got a on a roll I did find it neat to see how with different programs it all came together. The point of this project was to really put the knowledge that we have learned over the last few weeks and know how to do the right search in the public domain and also finding out that not all images are of free use and that there are rule behind what you can and can not use. I also found it neat to view another way to display the images other than by using for example power point or a movie software. In the end I really did learn alot of this project and have learned to press myself even further with what I can accomplish. I would like to take what I have learned over the last few weeks and apply these practices when I get a job in communications that requires these skills.I have learned that you may have to step out of your comfort zone some times to stay above the competitors.

PUBLIC DOMAIN PHOTO PROJECT

Personally, I found this project to be very difficult. I’m not whining, and I’m only stating that to give some background for one of my points. :) The primary reason it was difficult for me was because of my lack of relevant search results. What I mean is, what types of search terms (keywords) do I use to find good photo archives? I know they’re out there……
OAIster/WorldCat was somewhat helpful, and obviously it’s easy to find images in Wikimedia Commons, but how do I get into all of the university or library galleries? I tried just about every search terms you could imagine on Google and Bing:

photo gallery + library + history
“photo gallery” + library + history
Photo archive + library
Online + photo gallery
University image gallery

Just imagine all the combinations you could make with those words, and you can bet that I tried them all! As I said, I’m NOT whining, just curious as to why it is so difficult to search for these archives. Is it because they’re somehow “shielded” or too entrenched for search engines to find them? I’m dying to know. Someone please enlighten me. What’s the point of having a photo library if it’s not easily found?

Moving on, one thing that I definitely learned from this project was that Wikimedia Commons is an awesome resource. Maybe that answer sounds DUH and predictable, but it’s the truth. It’s a good resource because:

-People are regularly contributing to it (the wiki sites get used!).
-In most cases, the copyright status of the photo is clearly documented. Also, most entries generally attribute the original source.

I understand why Bettina limited the amount of pictures we could use from there. It’s EASY to find them.

Another thing I definitely learned from this work is that you HAVE to carefully verify whether or not something is indeed free to use. There were plenty of sites I found (through Creative Commons searches) that seemed ok at first, but eventually I ran into the copyright information. I suppose this would be true of even Wikimedia Commons. Theoretically, someone could have put a copyrighted image up there, and you might stumble upon it before it gets removed.

In closing, I’d like to speak freely about some thoughts this project stirred up in my head. As our class progresses, I grow more and more irritated by the strict copyright laws. If I were king, all material would be free to use for educational (non-commercial) work, PERIOD. There would be no need to get permission as long as the author was credited. I guess it all boils down to greed and dollars. As nerdy as it sounds, I really appreciate all the people out there who actually took the time to say, “You can use my work freely.” (Referring to those who put a CC license on their work or declared it open to the public domain.) I’d love to have a few words with some of the gallery holders I found during my searching………the ones with the big fat “ALL RIGHTS RESERVED” at the bottom. I’d like to tell them, “As with anything, you won’t be able to take all your dusty pictures with you after you die.” It’s one thing to claim authorship. It’s a completely different thing when some entity gathers a bunch of old pictures (that they didn’t take themselves) and then slaps a copyright on their gallery.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

I gained further knowledge about the public domain by applying material about the public domain and copyright to the project. I also learned that works in the public domain are not that easy to find. It was difficult to find the right images on sites other than Wikimedia. Once the image was found, it was challenging to find out about its copyright. It was fun, however to link images to research. I can now identify with all the people that are trying to do things legally. In addition to copyright and public domain, I learned Soundslides and Garageband. I am getting better with a Mac too!

:)

I think this project was more about copyright, public domain, and the technology of the assignment and not so much about the research. Knowing about digital archives opens a whole new world of information if you did not know about them before. I also think the point of this assignment was to demonstrate how easy it is to “steal” stuff and how difficult it is to find stuff legally, in the public domain. People are very cautious when you approach them about copyright, even if they do not own the copyright. It is as if copyright is a naughty word. I tried to contact a few people that specialized in Mounted Archery and they were cautious about communicating with me when I said the word research. If I said school project they were more open with information. I think the requirement of talking to a librarian was in the assignment to encourage people to ask for help and feel comfortable contacting people they do know. This was easy for me, not only with the librarians, but also with the professor of the topic. I also emailed a few other people that have an interest or specialize in the area. I think I might have even made a new friend in Hong Kong… We’ll see!

Discussion Questions: Photo Archiving

From this project, I gained knowledge about fair use and how to know when things are in the Public Domain. It taught me how to refine my search to pinpoint what I am looking for. It also taught me how to relate a research topic to photos and give them captions pertaining to the specific research. It also taught me how many places have digital archives and that you need to go all the way to the real collection before you can give credit to a photo.

The point of the project was to familiarize ourselves with fair use and public domain and how to recognize it and gain access to it. It was also to teach us how difficult it is to find photos pertaining to our research topic as well figuring out whether it was fair use material. Overall, this project was very frustrating and difficult. I had a difficult time finding a website that had photos in the public domain and once I did, I didn't want to contact a librarian. I'd say I have a bit better understanding of copyright after this assignment, but I got lucky by having all my photos in the public domain because they were government works that I didn't have to worry about copyright issues.

Another thing this project was useful for was that for future classes, I have many resources that I can go to for projects I may do and not worry about copyright so much.

Discussion Questions

From this project I learned about alot of the different resources that are you there and that are fair use. I also gained knownledge on how to be a professional communicatior when it came to talking to the librarians.I feel alot more confident in my ability these resources that I have never used. I am also more confident now if I need to talk to a librarian. Like we discussed in class librarians are there to help us and are great resources.

One of the problems I had was just understanding some of the research on my topic. I am not a professional n the subject I was researching so it made it a little difficult to try to make sense of some of the things that I was reading about.I did however find alot of the things I did understand pretty interesting.

I feel one of the points of this project was to just try things out. You ever really know how much information is out there or how to use the things available until you try them. I learned alot about the rules of public domain and how to stay within those boundaries when I am using different digital archives.

Discussion Questions

I found this assignment incredibly challenging. Not only did I have one heck of a time trying to locate an article on the research I was assigned, but I found that the Public Domain is not as vast as I thought it was. I found it difficult to find images that I was looking for. I think the part of this reason is because the images I was searching for were pretty specific, and a little big gruesome. The topic of death is a popular one on the regular internet and the images are plentiful, but not located in the Public Domain. Sometimes I think the reason that it's in the Public Domain is that no one really needs to use it.
While I didn't have the chance to talk to a librarian, since I only got access to my material Monday morning, I do realize how much work they have to do. They are responsible for so much material that their job would be more than stressful. I know one of the points was to appreciate how much they are responsible, and I think now I get it. I cannot imagine being in charge of the Library of Congress. The amount of responsibility that rests on the librarian's shoulders is ridiculous.
I think another reason to do this assignment is to realize how important Digital Archives are. If we did not have them, teaching would be so difficult. If we were not allowed to have this images for academic purposes , or even creative purposes, think of all that would be lost. The potential for improvement decreases at an alarming rate.

Public Domain

This was a really interesting (as well as frustrating) project.  I definitely learned more about research, particularly image research.  I better understand how to find out if an image is under copyright or not whereas before I was always wary about using images because I felt like I could never be sure what was legally usable and not; after this project I can see a license like GNU and not think "yeah, that probably means I can't use it."  This project also allowed for an inside look at what image researchers (and almost a little of what fact checkers) do.  I now know that is not something I ever want to go into. :D

I feel that the whole purpose of assigning this project was to avoid pure lecture about Public Domain but throw us into the thick of it.  There really are some things that just can't be efficiently taught without any hands on involvement, and I know that, at least for me, I wouldn't be able to remember half as much of what we have discussed regarding copyright and public domain if it weren't for this project.  We also got familiar with these various digital archives.  Digital archives can be really overwhelming, but after doing this project I think most of us could return to these archives if we needed to without spending an extra hour or two just attempting to figure the site out.  I liked that we searched for public domain images instead of just whatever images you can find and cite; it really makes a difference in the type of research we do.  Also, as I already said, being hands-on like that does efficently teach us more about copyright and different possible licensing.

This project may have been a bit of a pain (I never knew searching for images could be so difficult!), but it really did help me to better understand the various aspect related to the project that we have been talking about in class.  So I guess there is the silver lining.

The Commons

Public Libraries are important for democracy because without this vast archive of free information, we would not be protecting our right to freely expand our knowledge and stay educated. Public libraries relate to the Internet, because just like the Internet, we must keep our free flow of information alive. This is shown in Bollier’s quote from the text stating, “For me, librarians have always embodied some of the most fundamental virtues of Western civilization. They are dedicated to the freedom to read and learn and share information. They are committed to the free flow of knowledge, which is indispensable in a democracy. Americans must not only have free access to knowledge and creative works, we must be able to re-use and share them in order to create still other works.” For years public libraries have been the way for any common man to gain knowledge at his or her wish, and the Internet provides us with that same ability, only in better, faster, more precise ways.

Vaidhyanathan compares the “anarchy” in the library to the chaotic way in which the internet works, and the ways that it has potential to be limited due to its nature. We have so much information and data at our hands that it can nearly be overwhelming at times, yet we need to preserve this means of acquiring information in order to not let it slip away to the powers at large trying to restrict it and its use. I like that both the authors refer to “the commons” and the ways that we must keep this forum alive, and yet they realize that it is not always easy to do so (in fact, it can be quite hard, due to what Bollier refers to as our “void in our cultural vocabulary”).

Public Libraries are not exactly a “hip” place to go anymore like Jeff pointed out, and in fact I would say that the numbers of frequent library visitors is dwindling by the day. However, I still think we need to find a way to preserve these information outlets, for they truly are a staple to democracy and Western Civilization at that. I feel weird thinking that I might have to reminisce to my grandchildren about what a public library is, yet at that point they might already have a Wikipedia program implemented into their mind computers that allows them to instantly access the information to any term (what a tangent that one is!) Also, just like Jeff pointed out, I think that the term “the commons” will become synonymous with piracy because more and more we are seeing the expansion of the file sharing of information and media formats, yet more and more it is being made criminal. We need to find a happy medium ground between today’s copyright laws and complete anarchy of file sharing.

The Commons

When reading the material assigned I found myself lost throughout almost half of it. The one topic that really confused me was how a democracy was being tied into a library, so I referred to the dictionary, and found the same material that Bailey used. I used the 3rd definition as well, because to me that was the only way I could tie in a democracy to a library. I feel the 3rd definition is the best because it stats that a democracy is a state of society characterized by formal equality of rights and privileges. By this definition I feel that it is saying that and public person is welcome into the library to use their resources for the person's needs or wants. I feel people now are amazed by the internet and feel that the internet is the best place to get info instead of the library like the maybe once thought. Libraries do not get the use out of them like they used to and it's a shame, I find myself guilty of this as well. When we had to go to the library for class the other week I found myself completely lost which isn't a good at all!

When trying to comprehend Vaidhyanathan’s article I found some trouble, I was having a hard time really understanding what he was saying, from what I got out of it though he was basically saying that we need to utilize our libraries because they are like an anarchy in a way, they like to share free information.

Commons

Public libraries are very important to democracy because we live in a world run by a democracy where we are free to say anything we want, practice any religion we want and so on and so forth. With public libraries that democracy and that freedom comes into play. Most libraries holster a variety a books, and they also have many of them, all containing different stories, different characters, and most all different genres. You could be reading a book about love and romance to a horrific slasher who knows? Also books are a great way of LEARNING! Hello College. A public library holds very knowledgeable books where we are free to read and learn about whatever we would like, and without that freedom and that free will just to go to a public library and read a book and learn something new, I'm not so sure that our freedom and our democracy would exist today. If you think about it, books are what teach us, I mean teachers teach us obviously, but where did they get there notes, and where did they learn what they will be teaching us? FROM BOOKS!

After reading Vaidhyanathan's article, he very much wanted to get the point across that we should appreciate our public libraries more, and I feel that he succeeded very much. I realized that libraries and books are a good sense of freedom, and without that freedom there would be no democracy, and that's how public libraries really reflect democracy with the freedom to read and learn about whatever we want.

The Commons

First off, I'd like to say wow, Boiller's article really opened my eyes as to why libraries are so important. I am not the type of person who goes into a library to pick out a few books either for personal or academic use, but reading about how the government and copyright officials are speculating that libraries are a form of piracy is just weird. I remember going to the public library in my home town when I was really little for story-time. I go to meet new kids and enjoyed the librarian using funny voices to imitate the characters in the book. I got to pick out fun books and sometimes magazines, that normally I would not get to read. That's what libraries are about.

Libraries are extremely important to democracy. Democracy is all about letting people have a say in what happens with their lives and the government. City libraries have the word "public" in front of their name for a reason, anyone has access to it! That's the whole point. I understand why some people can see that as piracy because the knowledge is just right there for anyone to grab, but there are trying to take about a person's right to free knowledge, basically saying that you cannot learn through reading a book unless you purchase it. This is also related to the internet today because both can allow free access to a number of resources such as books, movies, newspaper articles, and magazines. They are both sharing networks, just different ways of going about it.

I found that Vaidhyanathan's article was a little difficult to read, but once I understood what he was getting at, it wasn't too bad. Okay, I think he means that anarchy in the library is a good thing because he does say that stronger efforts towards control can backfire, leading to less controllable, and less desirable conditions. I think this means that if people are contained to only creating or accessing certain things, then they will be more prone to act out. For example, I think that parents who keep their children more sheltered and put too much pressure on them, the child is more likely to rebel. I'm not saying that this happens all the time, but I have plenty of personal experience with this. People need to be able to create whatever they want, as Vaidhyanathan says, "these are valuable behaviors that help creators and citizens shape their world." Ultimately, he is hoping that the government and public can find a happy medium between anarchy and oligarchy because lets face it, we do need to be controlled sometimes otherwise our world would be total chaos.

The commons

“Librarians know better, of course. Librarians realize that the free dissemination of knowledge is not only the highest calling of their profession, but a vital function in our democratic society. Because libraries “give away” information, they educate our children, help citizens make informed choices, and constantly reinvigorate our cultural heritage,” (Bollier).
Public libraries are important for democracy because without democracy we wouldn’t have a control on everything that is important to us today. If we don’t have access to the information that tells us how we are free or how we got here today, why do we have a government? It’s all apart of who we are and are standard ways of living. I think if we didn’t have libraries there would have been no start to all this wonderful information online. I mean our class is mainly based out of a library somewhere someone posted all this information to allow us to learn copyrights, differences, and voices. The function of public libraries relate to the internet by that’s where it all started. No one learned engineering or electronic information on their own, they read a book or learned from a teacher that received books from that library. To all end up one day having that book teach you how to build a computer, where leads us to the internet.

Siva described “anarchy in the library” as less and less every day. Our power to distribute our information or to read others material is more restricting everyday. Our copyright laws have made the anarchy in the library. People are stubborn as Vaidhyanathan says. He describes us as trying to always push the buttons to the max before actually understanding the limits. Its like when you were little you go to mom and ask a favor to do something, but she says no so you go to dad. He discusses hope for our world to open more availabilities up in an anarchy way instead of the oligarchy route. The oligarchy shows us a system that is controlled more and more by government. In a way his hope is for us to be less ok with the situation and take actions in hope for more of an anarchy controlled democracy.

-Kelsey Krueger

The Commons

Public Libraries are important for democracy because they are dedicated to the freedom to read and learn and share information, according to Boliers article. Libraries share the free flow of knowledge and “give away” information. They are used to educate, help make informed choices, and reinvigorate our cultural heritage. Without the free access to knowledge and information I believe democracy would not exist in today society. Libraries and the Internet serve as the same purpose, to gain free knowledge and information. Individuals are relaying more and more on the Internet instead of the public library to find information. To be honest, the Internet is my library. I hardly ever go to the library to search for information. People are relaying more on the Internet for research and gaining information. This information that they are receiving was originally in a form of a book. Libraries are the most reliable source of information that is taken for granted.

From reading Vaidhyanathan’s article I got the impression that he was trying to inform the audience on how we need to appreciate our libraries more and that they are too members of the anarchy party because they share free information and knowledge. Individuals should be able to have the opportunity to share free information and knowledge with others and that is why public libraries reflex democracy.

The Commons

I believe public libraries are important for democracy because the library and librarians are committed to free knowledge. The library is pretty much the old school version of the internet. We get free information from the internet, just like we do from the books from the public libraries. If you think about it, the internet got their information from the information from libraries.


Siva Vaidhyanathan is trying to say that sources for information isn't all that easy. In the intro, it states that "the proliferation of such peer-to-peer networks may appear to threaten many established institutions, and the backlash against them can be even worse than the problems they create." This means that the copy right laws are making it harder for us to get free information. I think what Vaidhyanathan is wanting is to balance out the total freedom vs. complete control.

THE COMMONS

Ok, we’ve already thoroughly established that libraries are good for democracy because the free information aids the process by keeping citizens educated. Also, the point that the internet should have plenty of commons (just like a library is a commons) has also been established.

Vaidhyanathan compares the “anarchy” of completely free-flowing information with the strict control "the man" wishes to dole it out with. Obviously, Vaidhyanathan (along with most sane adults) wishes to explore and debate the topic, until some reasonable “middle ground” practices are agreed upon.

Both authors described the difficulty involved with trying to show the value of commons, which exists due to the limited and negative vocabulary we rely on to make our points. Instead of arguing over the copyright terms, let’s start using different approaches and focus on the positive aspects of commons. I loved the story about how the environment couldn’t be properly cared for until the term “the environment” became part of our vocabulary. It goes to show you the power of words…….how large ideas can be put into perspective.

Now, here are some of my thoughts. First off, I think libraries are going to have to evolve, or they’re going to disappear. How many young people actually go there, NOT because of an assignment? Stop into the public library on a summer day, or on a weekend, and take a stroll. I take my niece there when I have the time. Do you know where all the kids are? The bookshelves are like a ghost town. All the kids are at the computers playing mindless games. They’re not using Wikipedia, playing learning games, or checking out the National Geographic website. They’re playing free flash games, which are so brainless I can’t describe them in words. My nephew has the same garbage on his Ipod. Basically, the games are as simple as “whack a mole.” Please spare me the nonsense about time limits, because they don’t enforce them. I walked up to the librarian at the desk by the kid’s computers and said, “THAT is sad.” She looked up from Facebook (or whatever she was doing) and said, “I know, right?” The adult scene is equally lame. The books are for the most part ignored, and people are sitting at the computers checking their email or Facebook. If you don’t believe me, like I said, go see for yourself.

These stupid copyright policies have to lighten up. A modern library should grant you access to ANY and ALL forms of media. Movies, songs, television shows, Ebooks, online journals, and everything else should be available at the library. I would have no problem if they implemented some DRM strategy to make media checkouts expire after a certain time. It’s the same with a book……….unless you want to return it in a couple weeks, you’ll have to go buy a copy. If the library remains solely as a place to shelve books and get internet access, they’ll eventually become obsolete. They need to be transformed into a place to legally (and temporarily) download all forms of media.

My second point is regarding the commons. Many people will accuse me of being a fundamentalist for saying this, but I will anyway. In my lifetime, I’ve learned one thing from watching the Supreme Court. They are immoral AND partial towards big money. Call me un-American if you like, but that’s my 2 cents. I’m not counting on them to make any just decisions. SO……(I promise I have a point)……I don’t expect them to protect the commons. I think big business will win in the end, and our society will go further down the rabbit hole. I think more and more as the years go by, the term commons will become synonymous with piracy.

The Commons

Well, sometimes I don't really understand what some things mean, so first off let's start with a definition of democracy. I pulled this from dictionary.com:

de·moc·ra·cy

  [dih-mok-ruh-see]

–noun, plural -cies.

1.

government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.

2.

a state having such a form of government: The United States and Canada are democracies.

3.

a state of society characterized by formal equality of rights and privileges.

4.

political or social equality; democratic spirit.

5.

the common people of a community as distinguished from anyprivileged class; the common people with respect to their political power.

Well, I still don't fully understand half of what this means, but it makes sense that libraries are important to democracy in the sense of definition three. Libraries provide everybody in a community with the opportunity to learn from the literary works. It is an equal opportunity for all involved and readily available. It is a basic starting point for any sort of learning or inquiry. It is also a place where people come together with one common goal in mind. I don't think you can get any more democratic than that. In relation to the Internet, public libraries are basically the same. They both provide a plethora of information, yet the way people obtain the information is different. Libraries are generally solid copies of materials, yet some are more advanced and provide you with links to online resources where you can read the material. The internet is lacking in that it doesn't provide full works and sometimes has major gaps in information. I feel that libraries are more reliable, yet I know that much information on the net is more up to date and possibly more relevant. It is because of this lack of being up to date that libraries fall behind when people are learning new things. Also, libraries are more difficult to navigate than the net. Many people have grown quite accustomed to typing in a search bar rather than searching for a specific section of a library manually. Essentially, the use of libraries is a quickly diminishing art. However, I do realize that a lot of Internet sources gain their information from libraries.

I can honestly say that I barely understood what was being said in the book by Siva Vaidhyanathan. I don't fully grasp the whole idea of anarchy and public libraries. I even read some posts from other students I guess what they're saying makes sense, but I still don't understand it. It's confusing because to me, anarchy is the total loss of democracy and order which is the exact opposite of a library. I don't see how libraries are portals for pornography and the like. They are very scholarly in my opinion. I guess the only connection I see of libraries to anarchy is free information, but isn't that the main problem of the internet? I think he wants for libraries to live on, but I really don't know.

The Commons

The key concept of libraries are completely important to democracy because it has to do with sharing knowledge and information openly and for free. Without the access to knowledge, information, books, etc., democracy could barely exist. As Bollier states, both libraries and librarians are dedicated to instilling the virtue of freedom to learn and read and share information. The concept of libraries is similar to the concept of the internet, they are both spreading and sharing information for free (not completely free for all of the internet). Together, the internet and the library create the vast majority of information that is stored in our world. However, if the information in the library turns into marketed information, and the internet becomes more secure and privatized, the democracy and sharing of information will have some issues. This is when the concept of the commons vs. market comes in. The libraries and most of the Internet are considered a commons because the information travels and is shared freely. But the market puts a price on everything and looks at success as how much money one makes.

Vaidhyanathan describes the difference between anarchy and oligarchy as completel opposites with barely any room in between to settle on. The libraries and peer to peer networks (all sorts of them) are the anarchies because they share information without much structure or guidance. He describes this as a “radical democracy”. On the other hand, the ridiculous laws that are coming into play lately, such as copyright and piracy etc, are moving towards the oligarchy side. As Vaidhyanathan explains, the cyber world is not becoming the real world, the real world is becoming the cyber world. This is a little dangerous. Vaidhyanathan hopes that we can mediate between the two extremes so our society does not dig ourselves deeper. 

The Commons

I hadn't thought much about libraries' role in democracy, or in this new information movement we are in, until reading Bollier's quite interesting speech.  I probably went to the library every single week day as a kid, and spent at least and hour there most visits.  As I grew up the internet became my library and/or I bought books because I wanted to mark them up with my own notes and comments (and that is quite frowned upon by most librarians).  Never, until now, has it occurred to me how vital these facilities are to democracy.  


As Bollier points out, spreading knowledge is an essential part of democracy.  America was founded, after all, out of a need to escape one-minded ideals, and yet it seems that more and more democracy is failing.  Libraries are a piece of our society that are still, for the most part, wholly democratic;  they offer knowledge and information to everyone free of charge.  It is saddening to read and think about the financial cutbacks that libraries are being faced with, an underhanded effort to control the information they distribute freely.  It seems that Bollier wanted to encourage librarians to embrace the Internet and the Commons, not be against it as I think they sometimes may be.  Anymore, libraries, especially university libraries, have their own digital database of articles and even entire books at times.  It is a commons within a commons.  Given this, librarians can look to even more ways to expand democracy and encourage the commons, they just have to keep building on the original ideas in place.  They especially need to develop a new philosophy as Bollier mentions.


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Anarchy has a negative connotation; just chaos and disruption, not beneficial but overly radical.  Siva Vaidhyanathan turns that idea however, and looks at anarchy as we encounter it every day.  Anarchy in the library does exist and has existed thus far; the library functions or should function outside the authorities.  These facilities may be funded federally, but that is supposed to be the end of government interference with libraries - they are to have no say over what and how knowledge and information is distributed.  This freedom is in danger however, oligarchy seems to be creeping into libraries slowly but surely.  I believe that Siva hopes for the educated to stand up and discuss this issue more indepth, coming to solutions via human interaction and discussion not quick [hopeful] fixes via technology.  We can find ways around laws and restrictions all we want, but it won't make any difference if the attitude toward the entirety of the commons doesn't change.  


One thing I found particularly interesting was Siva's mention of the "collapse of inconvenience" and how that sparked all these laws and restrictions in an attempt to prevent the mass public from getting percieved "bad stuff" easily.  Democracy is suppose to allow freedom of thought and speech and ideals, yet they try to give us tunnel vision claiming it is better for society and democracy.  I know that Siva mentions fearing anarchy while not turning your back on it; he also points out that a "'smart mob' is still a mob." This is true.  But, for the time being, I say we embrace anarchy.  Sometimes the only way to get change is to be radical, at least for a little while.  I think we can all see, not just with the problems of copyright and information restrictions, but with everything in our current society, that democracy is kind of failing, and both of these readings as well as the website are calling for efforts to change that.

The Commons

A lot of people get their information from the computer and the internet, but where does that information come from normally? Someone wrote it down that’s where. No one would have known about Thanksgiving or Independence Day if someone did not write it down. Our history is from books. The library is a place where people can go to look up information in books and not just type things in and hope what you are looking for comes up on Google. The library has the books that will get you the very best information.

When I think of the word anarchy I think of chaos or freedom particularly from government. With the ease of getting all this knowledge there could be anarchy because anyone can get information because you can download things legally or illegally. While this may not be a bad thing for people using the free information or could be a bad thing for people who want to make money from the information. Either way the people using the information want free reign on it and the people that have the information want it to be limited to people so they can make money off of it. Anarchy can be good with the sharing of information. I think people should be able to share things for free some of the things that people don’t want to share could save people’s lives which I find ridiculous to try to hide.