This is the case with all forms of reseach accessi...

2008-01-20T13:21:00.000-08:00

This is the case with all forms of reseach accessible by whatever medium and not just the internet or Google.

Books / scrolls / parchament in a remote libery in a war-torn country which have not been committed to other forms of media are in danger of being lost forever and not just to the lazy researcher but to the dedicated one as well.

The problem here seems two-pronged, the sheer volume of work still to be done in terms of committing historical data to a digital medium and then nurturing a mindset where people look beyond the first returns in a search engine for the information they want.

Again, I raise my hat to you in admiration of the work you do.

"If preserved materials are not instantly availabl...

2008-01-20T06:06:00.000-08:00

"If preserved materials are not instantly available through their normal finding techniques, primarily search engines such as Google, they will not be used." While this is likely true for the general reader, it is quite terrifying for the future of research to think that it might become true for research.

Research is hard; PhDs are not supposed to be trivial, point and click activities. Only a small proportion of relevant research data (depending on field, admittedly) exists or is even catalogued in the digital domain. To do research properly will surely require patient pursuit of relevant resources wherever they are. In the future, as the past, many may be missed, perhaps to be discovered later, perhaps not.

I think I'm trying to say that preservation is potentially valuable for researchers whether it can meet the "instantly accessible" standard or not!

Comments on DSHR's Blog: Digital Preservation for the "Google Generation"

This is the case with all forms of reseach accessi...

"If preserved materials are not instantly availabl...