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Histoire de l'écriture

Histoire de l'écriture

The Library: Three Jeremiads by Robert Darnton When I look back at the plight of American research libraries in 2010, I feel inclined to break into a jeremiad. In fact, I want to deliver three jeremiads, because research libraries are facing crises on three fronts; but instead of prophesying doom, I hope to arrive at a happy ending. I can even begin happily, at least in describing the state of the university library at Harvard. We want to make it possible for other people to consult those collections by digitizing large portions of them and making them available, free of charge, to the rest of the world from an online repository. There are few places aside from research libraries where rare books and e-books can be brought together. Despite financial pressure, we therefore are advancing on two fronts, the digital and the analog. In fact, more printed books are produced each year than the year before. But without neglecting our collections of printed books, we must forge ahead on the other, the digital front. Jeremiad 1 Jeremiad 2

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