[padg] Re: Nicholson Baker update from NYT

["Frost, Gary" <gary-frost@xxxxxxxxx>]

I don't understand why practitioners can't be more objective about Nicholson Baker's critique of preservation. In my view he questions routines well. I think our problem is that we tend to defend routines rather than our overall goals. 

For example, it is likely that we are actually uncertain of our passion for the continuing role of tangible collections in the context of their digital delivery. This is the very moment when we can act as rare advocates for the mastering and back-up function of artifacts. Are we too busy, or too distressed or too conflicted?

I had a conversation with him in a bar near Williamsburg Virginia. It was just after his keynote presentation to the Society for History of Authorship, Reading and Publication. He has a wonderful admiration for researchers and for books and book studies. I think he is just a different kind of preservation worker. 

Gary Frost