Bostonist: Copyright Mess For Harvard

Katharine

Wed, 16 Mar 2005 23:14:51 -0500

Isn't it awful to live near all these great learning institutions with so many resources and not be allowed to use them? Sometimes I feel like all we get are crowded trains of rowdy undgergrads. I believe some universities do try to open up, but Harvard certainly isn't one of them. It seems like the biggest problem is that the general public can't find its way around our city's campuses. BU is open, but you have to find someone who can point you in the right direction. I heard Northeaster also opened its Marino Center gym to nearby residents, but I'm not sure if that's still true.

ed

Wed, 16 Mar 2005 13:12:20 -0500

Agreed on being open to the general public. You can't even get in to Widener without a Harvard ID. Since it owns so much land in Cambridge and Allston (tax-free I might add, despite its billions in endowment), Harvard has a special responsibility to the community not to keep its libraries locked up.

Chris Cagle

Wed, 16 Mar 2005 07:26:12 -0500

I can see Harvard's reasoning immediately: digitized books mean fewer grubby hands on their precious tomes. I'm not sure why all the area libraries are so stingy with access. BU and MIT are to be commended for being open to the general public.

Katharine

Tue, 15 Mar 2005 11:34:43 -0500

Google Scholar seems to be for full text articles, whereas Google Print is for Books. It's hard to tell, since Google is doing so many test programs. But I do know that Google Print is working with several other universities, so the two programs may (and should) be connected.

ken

Tue, 15 Mar 2005 10:25:30 -0500

is this the same initiative as the ones at brandeis, stanford, and yale? http://my.brandeis.edu/news/item?news%5fitem%5fid=103612&show%5frelease%5fdate=1