Literature as a (Web) Service Peter Brantley Digital Library Federation 10 Feb 2009
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When we think of books … we think of books as objects … (albeit of a special sort)
sometimes we even behold them as works of art
“hand°i°craft°Art”, Vali..., Flickr
\\ books are machine things
“M&H Type Arion Press Tour”, inarge, Flickr
(sans dynamism, texture) (size shape proportions)
2✚D (very limited conception)
the book is a social construction a successful commodity
“a book is a machine to think with.� - I. A. Richards - Principles of Literary Criticism - 1924
Nota Bene: books never static. we read books.
“Northfield Carnegie Reading Room”, Olivander, Flickr
reading is itself a social product
a commodity in concert with language, and a conception of personal space.
what the heck?
\ now our \ analog culture \ is being
uplifted | to | digital
“The Rocket blasts off”, Phil Gyford, Flickr
and what is a “book� is about to be redefined
not just in the context of itself
“This is No Barnes and Nobel: El Ateneo Bookstore”, longhorndave, Flickr
new form of commodity
a new set of relationships
books are now networked commodities
“Network Operations Center at NPR”, Collapse the Light, Flickr
“reading� becomes redefined
“Things to do while traveling by train�, Akbar Simonse, Flickr
reading (silently) always before a solitary act
1 person
+
1 book
reading many things [in the context of others]
reading will be increasingly embedded in & produced in highly networked contexts
So, what I want to say ...
what is published
will become less about the books
than the
people who read them
“reading in the sun”, gnackgnackgnack, Flickr
Books to ďƒ¨ People
extract what’s important[inside the books]
words, ceoln, Flickr
the words that the books contain.
words that represent • fact • beauty • thought • expression
digital words can be – described joined linked
by other words across books with data
“MMMMathemmmmmatics”, Flickroff, Flickr
words that: describe themselves ↓ words that: build new services
ah, let me explain that ...
“The P Word”, racineur, Flickr
via a torturous analogy ... ... ...
Gemeinschaft books Gesellschaft books
future: when we read a book (networked)
we don’t need to stop at the “cover” of the book (read just the words in the book)
“book cover collage”, monkeyc.net, Flickr
an environment of participatory engagement
environment is emerging across books
any book can be a passage into the world of all the thoughts that can be found in the book
“books strung up by their spines, and the words that fell out of them�, glitter feet, Flickr
books can now work together
words of books can be associated among each other
“now”, quinnnchick, Flickr (via Shelly Jackson’s The Skin Project)
literature can become a (web) service
“Teaching How to Dance”, William Forrester, Flickr
Homework Exercise
Imagine-1: 1. All digitized non-fiction books 2. ... a rough machine translation 3. ... the major world languages
jumble of words ruptured contexts - but “knowledge tokens� preserved
a highly derivative work indexed and searchable
awareness of knowledge becomes accessible to a huge portion of the world
“book”, mybloodyself, Flickr
Imagine-2: 1. Wikipedia entries 2. ... machine-enhanced 3. ... linked to books
data in wikipedia with
data in books linking_data
Linked Data –. – using the web – to connect data – .
Linked Data uses words --- to join --other words
“Xarxa”, Xarxes socials i llengües, Flickr
new awareness / new knowledge / machine generated machine enhanced
we can do these things : today :
(Google does)
“Platinum spiral catalyzing methanol oxidation�, ystenes, Flickr
we are thinking of the things you make the words the ideas
as a catalyst for new services (not products)
Δ requires changes
we have to think of (IP) rights in a new way
just as we think of our books in a new way
upside for developers of services
services generate renewable revenue
In ∑ …
books are empowered in the digital age
by w o r d s
And the people who read them.
“At The Bookstore Café”, erix!, Flickr
Google figured this out (Google Book Search)
When you think of literature as a catalyst
as a whole assemblage of thoughts concepts ideas
you are limited only by your imagination
“Sweet dreams for Christmas...”, carf, Flickr
kthxbai! peter at diglib.org naypinya {twitter, skype, slideshare}