Great. It looks like Microsoft will be powering the Library of Congress web site

[thewayne]

I have zero interest in Silverlight. I have zero interest in Flash. I had no choice but to install Flash in my browsers, and now it looks like I'm going to have to install more Microsoft crap on my Mac.

*sigh*

The Article: http://www.gcn.com/print/27_2/45710-1.html

The Slashdot Blather: http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/24/1939214

Comments

[deborak]

LOC needs all the help it can get to make its holdings more accessible. The slashdot guy just sounds bitter than his gang didn't elbow their way in first.

[thewayne.livejournal.com]

It's a very big problem, not just for LOC, but for digital preservation of libraries. Even more so for digital preservation of digital media. Archivists know how to make paper last a few hundred years, but with digital media, there's such rapid change in technologies that a lot of archivists think that they'll be lucky if they can retrieve digital media only 30 years old. Digital movies are a HUGE problem because of the infant technology, Hollywood is very concerned.

[vaudy.livejournal.com]

Yes, the LOC needs all the help it can get to make its holdings more accessible, and that's precisely why adopting Silverlight should be questioned. If Microsoft can guarantee that anyone, on any computer, using any OS or browser, can download and run Silverlight, or at least be able to use sites made with Silverlight, then fine. Access for everyone, which is one of the library profession's biggest goals, and is especially important for LOC.

Seeing as I've already discovered that Silverlight won't install on my computer (probably because it's old and not very powerful, but I can't be certain), they can't make that guarantee at this time. I won't be able to access LOC holdings that are developed with Silverlight, and I'm a librarian.

What about other people who can't afford newer computers? What about public libraries that don't have a decent technology budget, and have older machines that won't install and run this software? If someone who can't run this software at home can't even go to their local library to access LOC's holdings if they want to, that's a problem. (The fact that many people don't even know about the resources available on LOC's website is a different problem entirely.)

I'm not a huge anti-Microsoft person in general (I run Windows, and I use MS Office extensively). Some of their practices give me pause, yes, but I wouldn't take up arms against this just because it's Microsoft, because frankly, I'm not a techie, and I don't always know what else is out there. In fact, I'm not taking up arms against it at all right now, just because I don't yet have all the information, and I'm not familiar with any of the other software that people were putting forth as alternatives; I'm simply concerned about whether or not this move will actually decrease access rather than increase it, and I think that's the issue that has to be considered when discussing this issue, not what company made the software.