Re: [ARSCLIST] Digitizing libraries

["Steven C. Barr(x)" <stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Okeh...for what it's worth, an idea I dreamed up as far as "digital
books"...!

My idea is something along these lines...

"DigiBooks" would be something like text equivalents to iPods. They
would be available in a few book-approximating sizes (say 6"x9" up to
8.5"x11") with larger machines offering larger type. There would be
a page-sized LCD display; some models would literally be "read-only,"
while the fancier ones would include a "Clipboard" (for copying
selected content) and a small keyboard (for taking notes or making
"annotations"). The basic files would be in the standard .pdf format...
if that doesn't allow the Edit functions, the text could also be
available in straight-ASCII (no illustrations) text characters
for use in Find and Copy operations.

These would be about the same size and weight as "hard copy" books...
and could be read in the same locations (you couldn't take a DigiBook
in the shower with you, but that also applies to paper books...!).
Larger-screen models could be sold which would allow the display of
two facing pages (folks read paper books both ways!). Of course,
the extent to which content could be copied and privately stored
(the fancier machines would have this capability, along with a
hard drive) would be limited by copyright laws. Note that .pdf's
can include illustrations, graphs and such...so the digital pages
would look just like the originals. The .pdf filenames would also
be stored with copied text or entered annotations, so a DigiBook
and its augmentations would be associated by definition.

DigiBooks would be sold on "flash memory" cards (just like digital
photos are by their cameras) and the DigiBook "reader" would be
equipped with such a slot. There would also be connections (USB
ports?) so a regular desktop or laptop computer could be used if
the reader preferred.

Problem is, I don't have the techie know-how to build any of this...
so if anyone out there in Radio-Land does, feel free to take my idea
and run with it! Just give me some credit (and a little of the cash...?!)

Steven C. Barr