Conceptualizing Large-Scale Information Access Efforts: The Case for Historical Context

摘要

Large-scale digitization initiatives (LSDIs) like GooglernBook Search and the Open Content Alliance havernextraordinary potential to reshape the social world.rnHowever, the scholarly community currently lacks adequaternconceptualizations to describe these phenomena and assessrnwhat they might portend. This paper examines the currentrnstate of the literature on LSDIs, finding hundreds of relatedrnarticles and documents – only a fraction of which add to thernconceptualization process. It then describes one wayrnforward in developing a holistic concept of LSDIs uponrnwhich to ground further study: by placing them in historicalrncontext, as efforts to democratize access to information.