oshyMay 11
You noticed how google search became unusably shit a few years ago?
Turns out that was on purpose
Show thread Stellar 🇫🇷 ( era)May 11
@ocean i'm not surprised, but i didn't noticed since i use alternatives from google since a long time ​​
Show threadprisixia
@Stellar @ocean The library
May 11 at 8:04pmWeb
Show threadLisPiMay 11
@prisixia @Stellar @ocean Publisher corposcum did their utmost to make it impossible for libraries to have practical malware-free access to ebooks through libraries.

Borrowing the book to scan by oneself and digitize it is onerous and tedious.
Show threadTheMagicalCMay 12
@lispi314 @Stellar @prisixia @ocean Most library ebooks can be borrowed as DRMed epubs, which you can strip the DRM from using Calibre.
Show threadLisPiMay 12
@cwg1231 @ocean @prisixia @Stellar Many insist on SaaSS malware, some with a non-browser component and do not distribute the files without executing said component (and many do their best to make extraction as hard as they can).
Show threadTheMagicalCMay 13
@lispi314 @Stellar @prisixia @ocean I'm certainly not disputing that. However, practically speaking, most (American) libraries use Libby/Overdrive which is super easy to rip epubs from.
Show thread Stellar 🇫🇷 ( era)May 13
@lispi314@udongein.xyz @prisixia@mk.absturztau.be @ocean @cwg1231 have you guys heard about books?
Show threadLisPiMay 13
@Stellar @prisixia @cwg1231 @ocean Inconvenient things to duplicate, it was an actual job for a reason.

Difficult to access remotely as well. Rather problematic with a pandemic (to say nothing of unrelated logistical hurdles). It wouldn't be so bad if institutional ageism didn't make so many libraries age-gate postal loaning & returns behind being elderly or disabled with papers to prove it (accessibility challenges? What's that? 😒), when they provide it at all.

All the things I name have solutions yes, but they also are not applied for reasons unknown to me.
Show thread Stellar 🇫🇷 ( era)May 13
@prisixia@mk.absturztau.be @cwg1231 @ocean @lispi314@udongein.xyz if the library doesn't have a book you want to borrow or copy anna's archive probably has it
Show threadLuna LacteaMay 12
@prisixia @ocean @Stellar No libraries anymore, at least not in the USA. Libraries are also much slower to update information & don't have the obscure topics alot of people look up, such as how to install pyssnshit (everyone's favorite python script), or the history of the use of sewing machines in Australia. Any libraries that are still operational are going to be horrifically underfunded & not even have a card index to search them with, & with certain governments restricting access to certain written knowledge (Germany 1940s, USA 2020s), alot of very important things that libraries have are about to disappear. Libraries may have been the backup plan when the Internet failed at one point, but now the Internet is the backup plan for libraries failing, but the most important parts of the Internet are failing at the same time. I have not heard well of libraries in other countries either. For most places in the world it may be fine, but for many they aren't a solution.
Show threadAcin ☆May 13

@jackemled @prisixia @ocean @Stellar

The US has one of the strongest network of public library systems in the world.

There have been forced closures and reduced funding around the country, yeah; but thousands of public libraries in the US continue to exist. Some with increased local support to keep up with rising costs. Almost all libraries in this century use digital catalogs based off database matching for searches and have staff that will pick up a phone to call contacts for obscure resources like for specialty books at universities. Many have suscriptions to journals and teaching services. Visiting a library regularly increases knowledge sharing as the staff, patrons, and event hosts swap info from shared interests.

I get the feeling, tho, that you're talking about a near future where the federal government has taken over the state goverments and its companies have corrupted all digital systems? Or, what are you describing?

Show threadLuna LacteaMay 13
@shadowfals @prisixia @ocean @Stellar Maybe I'm not seeing it because I'm in a very conservative area & constantly hearing about threats to city & state libraries in other places. In my home town too our libraries weren't great & never got anything digital besides one desktop computer meant for accessing one state research paper library & nothing else. I haven't been home for a few years so I'm unsure how they're doing now, but I doubt any books about gender or sexuality are still there with the local politics. Libraries will always be important resources, but books are fundamentally fragile devices that can't be easily duplicated & distributed out of control like digital information.
Show threadLuna LacteaMay 13
@shadowfals @prisixia @ocean @Stellar It's more like the present & my worries for the very near future. The Library of Alexandria was burned by the Romans, & I don't see why it can't happen again to any library, especially since it has happened again numerous times.