Alex Wright


Dewey Decimated

January 12, 2006

The Christian Science Monitor just published an Op-Ed column that I wrote a few weeks ago, a commentary on libraries in the wake of recent news surrounding book digitization initiatives like Google Book Search and the Open Content Alliance. Briefly, the column poses the question of whether libraries are anything more than just collections of books; or, do they serve a deeper human need for social and physical proximity?

I actually wrote the piece back in early December, while the Google Book Search debates were still swirling. The Monitor editors liked the column enough to accept it, but kept it in the wings while war in the Middle East, lobbying scandals and the stamp price hike took precedence over a rambling rumination on classical libraries and monastic scriptoria.

In the Whiny Author Department, I am not wild about the title they gave it. I liked my original title - "Dewey Decimated" - way better than the wambly-sounding "Libraries as Places to Linger and Mingle." But so it goes. Still nice to see the light of print.


File under: Publications

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