In examining the history of libraries and the way their collections have evolved over time we are, in many ways, telling the story of the survival of knowledge itself. Every individual book that exists now in these institutions, all the collections that together build up into larger bodies of knowledge, are survivors.
Until the advent of digital information, libraries and archives had well-developed strategies for preserving their collections: paper. The institutions shared the responsibility with their readers. All new users of the Bodleian Library at Oxford University, for example, are still required to formally swear “not to bring into the Library, or kindle therein, any fire or flame,” as they have done for over four hundred years. Stable levels of temperature and relative humidity, avoidance of flood and fire, and well-organized shelving were at the heart of preservation strategies. Digital information is inherently less stable and requires a much more proactive approach, not just to the technology itself (such as file formats, operating systems and software). (a)This instability has been amplified by the widespread adoption of online services provided by major technology companies, especially those in the world of social media, for whom preservation of knowledge is a purely commercial consideration.
As more and more of the world’s memory is placed online we are effectively outsourcing that memory to the major technology companies that now control the internet. The phrase “Look it up” used to mean searching in the index of a printed book, or going to the right alphabetical entry in an encyclopedia or dictionary. Now it just means typing a word, term or question into a search box, and letting the computer do the rest. Society used to value the training of personal memory, even devising sophisticated exercises for improving the act of memorizing. Those days are gone. There are dangers in the convenience of the internet, however, as the control exercised by the major technology companies over our digital memory is huge. Some organizations, including libraries and archives, are now trying hard to take back control through independently preserving websites, blog posts, social media, even email and other personal digital collections.
(b)”We are drowning in information, but are starved of knowledge,” John Naisbitt pointed out as early as 1982 in his book Megatrends. A concept of “digital abundance” has since been coined to help understand one important aspect of the digital world, one which my daily life as a librarian brings me to consider often. The amount of digital information available to any user with a computer and an internet connection is overwhelmingly large, too large to be able to comprehend. Librarians and archivists are now deeply concerned with how to search effectively across the mass of available knowledge.
The digital world is full of contradictions. On the one hand the creation of knowledge has never been easier, nor has it been easier to copy texts, images and other forms of information. Storage of digital information on a vast scale is now not only possible but surprisingly inexpensive. Yet storage is not the same thing as preservation. The knowledge stored online is at risk of being lost, as digital information is surprisingly vulnerable to neglect as well as deliberate destruction. (c)There is also the problem that the knowledge we create through our daily online interactions is invisible to most of us, but it can be manipulated and used against society for commercial and political gain. Having it destroyed may be a desirable short-term outcome for many people worried about invasions of privacy but this might ultimately be to the detriment of society.
(1) 難易度★★ This instability has been amplified by the widespread adoption of online services provided by major technology companies, especially those in the world of social media, for whom preservation of knowledge is a purely commercial consideration.
(3) 難易度★★★ There is also the problem that the knowledge we create through our daily online interactions is invisible to most of us, but it can be manipulated and used against society for commercial and political gain. Having it destroyed may be a desirable short-term outcome for many people worried about invasions of privacy but this might ultimately be to the detriment of society.
the creation of knowledge has never been easierの訳が、「知識の創造はこれまでになく容易であり」となる理由をご教示いただけないでしょうか。直訳すると、「知識の創造は以前ほど易しくなってきていない(昔の方が容易であった)」となると思うのですが...