Playing Stickball in Canarsie? Better Learn Brooklyn Rules | NISO website

"The Internet Archive saw this in terms of a global need and moved to serve any population whose circumstances had deprived them of local access. At the same time, while content providers and libraries continued working to ensure that access to needed resources was available, the Internet Archive was drawing attention to the problem that, for some market segments, the model does not meet the need....

In a public health crisis, it’s easy to assume that existing practices will be set aside in favor of new societal conditions in order to meet an emerging need. For a more traditionally-understood information community, we understand that we’re operating within an imperfect, artificial construct with an intentionally limited view of technology and use. However, it is one that has been worked out in recent decades by publishers and librarians through adversarial as well as collaborative engagement....

Set aside for the moment worries about unanticipated legal precedents in copyright and the agony of renegotiating world treaties. One take-away from this global pandemic might be the humble recognition that there are existing needs in the marketplace that are not satisfactorily served by current access models....

Access models need to serve fundamental business requirements, of course, but surely there is room for improvement. The question is whether it is time to work out better possibilities, better models for satisfying information needs in a marketplace ready for new efficiencies and approaches. How might we innovate more successfully to ensure that critical information resources are made accessible to all?"