Re: [ARSCLIST] When you die...

[Dave Nolan <DaveNolanAudio@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Fri, 26 Oct 2007 09:53:06 -0400, Jim Lindner <jim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>I am sure I am missing something here - but if these are published
>recordings - that have been digitized by others or preserved by
>others because they are NOT unique - and available as access copies
>elsewhere (on the net or not) and the music is available elsewhere -
>and these particular recordings  were not owned by someone famous -
>or have some artifactual value for some other strange reason - then
>the value of them other then to yourself as a thing you collect
>because you like to collect things is - - - what exactly?

Three words:

Preservation through dissemination

The more copies that survive, well, the more copies that survive...

By the above logic, we would only need one copy of any book ever published,
because theoretically in the magic digital future every inhabitant of planet
earth will be able to access that one universally available digitized copy.  

Unless of course that magic digital repository did not make that content
universally available for free - which is sadly closer to reality than any
benevolent Utopian analysis that one might wish to imagine. 

The digital version of "preservation through dissemination" - an incredibly
recent phenomenon - is largely the work of overlapping networks of
collectors who are thankfully ignoring copyright in an effort to preserve
our cultural and intellectual heritage for future generations.  Thank
goodness they are preserving digital objects regardless of short-sighted
copyright laws that, if followed, would virtually guarantee the
disappearance of over 90% of the world's music and literature.  One can only
hope that their digital collections survive - and that people who preserve
and hand down original "artifacts" such as record albums are equally lucky.

Most institutions in earth's history - public or private - do not have a
terribly great track record of lasting long enough to ensure long-term
survival of their collections.  I don't think any of us can predict what
will be here in 200 years - who's digital repository will have survived,
who's "artifacts" will have survived.  I only know that I feel incredibly
privileged to have studied actual copies of books from the 1600's and 1700's
- and I wish I could shake the hand of the person who felt it important
enough to take good care of that object so that someone like me might be
able to appreciate it many years later.  

I would hate to think that in 100 years that people could only see (or in
our case hear) a very few original objects in museums, rather than having
them more readily accessible to see, touch, and learn from up close.

dave nolan
nyc