Literature as a (Web) Service Peter Brantley Digital Library Federation 10 Feb 2009

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When we think of books … we think of books as objects … (albeit of a special sort)

sometimes we even behold them as works of art

“ hand°i°craft°Art”, Vali... , Flickr

//JOB books are machine things

“ M&H Type Arion Press Tour”, inarge , Flickr

(sans dynamism, texture) (size shape proportions) 2 ✚ D (very limited conception)

the book is a social construction a successful commodity

“ a book is a machine to think with.” - I. A. Richards - Principles of Literary Criticism - 1924

Nota Bene: books never static. we read books.

“ Northfield Carnegie Reading Room”, Olivander , Flickr

reading is itself a social product

a commodity in concert with language, and a conception of personal space.

what the heck?

now our analog culture is being

uplifted | to | digital

“ The Rocket blasts off”, Phil Gyford , Flickr

and what is a “ book ” is about to be redefined

not just in the context of itself

“ This is No Barnes and Nobel: El Ateneo Bookstore”, longhorndave , Flickr

new form of commodity

a new set of relationships

books are now networked commodities

“ Network Operations Center at NPR”, Collapse the Light , Flickr

“ reading” becomes redefined

“ Things to do while traveling by train”, Akbar Simonse, Flickr

reading (silently) always before a solitary act

1 person + 1 book

reading many things [in the context of others]

reading will be increasingly embedded in & produced in highly networked contexts

So, what I want to say ...

what is published

will become less about the books

than the people who read them

“ reading in the sun”, gnackgnackgnack , Flickr

Books to  People

extract  what’s important - [inside the books]

words, ceoln , Flickr

the words that the books contain.

words that represent fact beauty thought expression

words that

represent

fact

beauty

thought

expression

digital words can be – described by other words joined across books linked with data

“ MMMMathemmmmmatics”, Flickroff, Flickr

words that: describe themselves ↓ words that: build new services

ah, let me explain that ...

“ The P Word”, racineur , Flickr

via a torturous analogy ... ... ... Gemeinschaft books  Gesellschaft books

future : when we read a book ( networked )

we don’t need to stop at the “cover” of the book (read just the words in the book )

“ book cover collage”, monkeyc.net , Flickr

an environment of participatory engagement

environment is emerging across books

any book can be a passage into the world of all the thoughts that can be found in the book

“ books strung up by their spines, and the words that fell out of them”, glitter feet , Flickr

books can now work together

words of books can be associated among each other

“ now”, quinnnchick , Flickr ( via Shelly Jackson’s The Skin Project )

literature can become a (web) service

“ Teaching How to Dance”, William Forrester , Flickr

Homework Exercise

Imagine- 1 : All digitized non-fiction books ... a rough machine translation ... the major world languages

Imagine- 1 :

All digitized non-fiction books

... a rough machine translation

... the major world languages

jumble of words ruptured contexts - but - “ knowledge tokens” preserved

a highly derivative work indexed and searchable

awareness of knowledge becomes accessible to a huge portion of the world

“ book”, mybloodyself , Flickr

Imagine- 2 : Wikipedia entries ... machine-enhanced ... linked to books

Imagine- 2 :

Wikipedia entries

... machine-enhanced

... linked to books

data in wikipedia with data in books linking _ data

Linked Data . using the web to connect data .

Linked Data

.

using the web

to connect data

.

Linked Data uses words --- to join --- other words

“ Xarxa”, Xarxes socials i llengües, Flickr

new awareness / new knowledge / machine generated machine enhanced

we can do these things : today :

(Google does)

“ Platinum spiral catalyzing methanol oxidation”, ystenes , Flickr

we are thinking of the things you make the words the ideas

as a catalyst for new services ( not products)

Δ requires changes

we have to think of (IP) rights in a new way

just as we think of our books in a new way

upside for developers of services

services generate renewable revenue

In ∑ …

books are empowered in the digital age

by w o r d s

And the people who read them.

“ At The Bookstore Café”, erix !, Flickr

Google figured this out (Google Book Search)

When you think of literature as a catalyst

as a whole assemblage of thoughts concepts ideas

you are limited only by your imagination

“ Sweet dreams for Christmas...”, carf , Flickr

kthxbai! peter at diglib.org naypinya {twitter, skype, slideshare}