“The Digital Public Library of America has some pretty big supporters examining the possibility of creating a digitized library for the United States, while Europeana, backed by the European Commission, provides a portal to 15 million digital works from institutions in many EU member states.”

From Nate Hill: “I’m writing about all of this here because I think the grand, idealistic, unifying schemes of Neurath can be informative in the design process for the Digital Public Library of America.”

“The Digital Public Library of America initiative, led by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, has been gaining steam and has elicited a lively debate on the DPLA’s discussion listserv about how any such institution should be constituted.”

From David Rothman: “I myself am very open to a compromise on forking. The DPLA could agree to do the fork in X number of months and meanwhile be more open about its activities, especially in regard to the Steering Committee and other gatherings, both the in-person and virtual varieties.”

“And with this thought, who better to take on the role of patron of our DPLA then Benjamin Franklin? We’re all familiar with the quote attributed him at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, ‘We must, indeed, all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.'”

“The public library may be one of this nation’s most important cultural and civic institutions. Yet it faces a number of threats – budget crises at the state and local level and the shift in the publishing industry from print to digital books. Of course, the library is more than just a repository for books – paper or otherwise.”

From Robert H. McDonald: “The Digital Public Library of America announced today their Beta Sprint. I was just at a meeting with this group in Amsterdam and I am very intrigued by this type of community outreach within their planning process.”

“The Digital Public Library of America is inviting librarians, programmers and others to come up with mock screenshots, actual coded sites or other demos—as part of a beta sprint program.”

From Nate Hill: “There’s been a lot of listserv discussion, and the Library City blog and the Library Renewal group have responded to this initiative, all helping to steer it in a way that should truly benefit our incredibly diverse public libraries and their patrons. I thought I’d take a stab here at defining what I believe would be a useful DPLA for real public libraries and real public library patrons across the USA.”

From David Rothman: “Should America’s public libraries live in a ‘big tent’ with the academic libraries, as some well-meaning people have called for? Not my favorite image, alas. Makes me think of Barnum & Bailey or life in post-Katrina shelters.”

“Partly out of concern that it may have been too narrowly constituted, the Digital Public Library of America recently expanded its steering committee to include three prominent public librarians.”

“The project to develop a Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) has become more widely publicized in the past several months, understandably accruing many different interpretations and perspectives about what it might be, what it should not be, and what it might become over time.”

“This trust conundrum is a huge issue for efforts in Europe, America, and elsewhere to build and sustain national digital libraries, including the DPLA initiative here in the U.S., which currently is getting quite a bit of press attention.”

From LibraryCity.org: “Responding to us—and others—the Digital Public Library of America has added three highly respected public librarians to what was a 14-member steering committee without any local librarians.”

“The impact of a universal public library today can be compared to that of Gutenberg’s printing press, in that it could provide an unprecedented number of people speedy access to a wealth of information.”

“According to Pamela Samuelson, professor of law and information management at the University of California, Berkeley, the issue is not whether the DPLA would serve a great purpose. The crux of the matter is that in order to make virtual books available, a digital copy of the original must first be made, which in plain language violates copyright law.”

“Unlike Google’s plan to purchase copyright from publishers, authors and libraries, DPLA, as an online extension from existing an library, seems much closer to an evolution of traditional modes of access to libraries and their material.”

“The Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University announced Dec. 13, 2010, that it would host a research and planning initiative for a Digital Public Library of America.”

“The proposed Digital Public Library of America will serve as an open online collection of digitized books and texts that project leaders hope could one day incorporate every volume ever published.”

“Creation of the Digital Public Library of America would be a notable step forward in keeping with that honorable tradition of public access to knowledge.”