Date: Mon, 07 Oct 2002 19:35:14 -0400
From: Chuck0 <chuck-AT-mutualaid.org>
Subject: Re: libertarian microfiche project


shawn wilbur wrote:
> I've spent part of the last few days working with a batch of microfiche
> i ordered from John Zube's Libertarian Microfiche Publishing project
> <http://www.acenet.com.au/~jzube/>. I'm pretty impressed. John has
> scanned about 1600 fiche, with up to 450 pages per fiche, of anarchist
> and libertarian material, and offers them for about US$1.00 each.
> There's lots of stuff in the catalog of the austro-libertarian or
> "anarcho"-capitalist variety, but there's also large amounts of more
> appealing stuff. I picked up full reprints of Benjamin Tucker's "Radical
> Review" and "Liberty," Lysander Spooner's "Collected Works," misc
> writings by Jo and Laurance Labadie, issues of "The Dandelion" with
> various reprints including Josiah Warren's scarce-as-hen's-teeth
> "Manifesto," and a few other items. The batch cost me US$63.00 postpaid.
> 
> The image quality is generally high. The viewer i used at the bookstore
> for distributor inventory fiches isn't quite up to the magnification
> chores, but it was never very good anyway. Better readers are available
> used online for less than US$50. Modern printing viewers are available
> used starting at about US$500. And i just took mine over to the local
> university library and used the viewer/printers there.
> 
> Microfiche is in some ways less desirable as a medium for archiving than
> CDROMs, but it's hard to argue with the deal LMP is offering. This sort
> of archiving puts a large amount of anarchist material otherwise limited
> to expensive library editions or rare, fragile original publications
> within the price reach of even a small infoshop or individual. In terms
> of usability, searchable text, like that available in the Spunk Library
> and similar sites, has distinct advantages, but if folks could work at
> getting image scans of anarchist and libertarian material in some
> portable form, the transcription work could go on much more easily. I
> think this has convinced me to shift my efforts from pamphlets and web
> archives to CDROM in the future. I'm realizing that i could have had a
> whole lot more material accessible in the time i've spent doing minor
> transcription work.
> 
> There are apparently a number of other generally libertarian archiving
> projects out there. www.butterbach.net lists a bunch of them.
> 
> -shawn

The format is not the solution.

Shawn, I think we've had this discussion on the Spunk list a long time ago, 
but the problem with Zube's project is that he fetishizes one format as some 
kind of magical technology. Zube has put alot of work into his project over 
the years and he should get more credit than he has, but the purpose of an 
archive shouldn't be wedded to any specific technology.

Zube made the decision many years ago to do his archive on microfiche, 
probably thinking that it would be cheap to distribute and wouldn't take up 
much space. The problem of course with obsolete and antique technologies (and 
formats) is that there aren't any devices to read the microfiche. Libraries 
have been getting rid of microfiche readers, so it is almost impossible for 
the average person to go out with a Zube microfiche and find a reader for it.

CD-ROM technology is more ubiquitous, but there are similar considerations 
with this technology. There has been lots of talk about the "lifespan" of 
CDs, with recent studies suggesting that CDs will last longer than previously 
expected. But as a few articles have pointed out, what do you do with your 
CDs in ten year if everybody has moved on to a new technology for mass 
storage? How many PCs and laptops and pocket PCs are ebing shipped with 3.5" 
floppy drives these days? I dare you to find a computer with a 5 1/4" drive.

This is why Internet-based archives are still the way to go for the 
forseeable future. However, we could do better in terms of making the 
information in those archives more accessible to the average person. A CD 
might be the answer, but not one with simply texts on it.

Ironically, Zube's microfiche project shows off one strength of that 
technology which contemporary technology falls short. The microfilm and 
microfiche format more easily captures the entire look of a printed 
publication. Yes, you can scan these things now, but I believe that filming 
publications for microfiche was much easier.

Chuck0

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