It reads like a warning from a tabloid newspaper, one written to drive fear into the public. If you are an author, you have developed a cold sweat. “What’s happening to my book?” you ask. As a reader, you are terrified that you’ll never be able to read your favourite story, ever again. I’m not joking, either. Soon, your book will cease to exist.
OK, I’m using the word “soon” on a universal level. And a couple of thousand years is a short period of time when considering the history of existence. But before you panic too much, let me tell you that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
I am going to attack you with facts!
In the British library there are 150,000,000 items sat on 640 kilometers (398 miles for my American friends) of shelves. They have built a new depository at Boston Spa which will hold 7,000,000 books, weighing in at 12,000 tonnes spread over 263 kilometers (163 miles for my American chums) of shelves, and kept under a reduced oxygen atmosphere of 16% rather than the 21% that you are breathing right now.
That is a lot of books.
The British Library also holds 5300 tonnes of newspapers and here is the shocker. 1.4 tonnes are lost every year to the atmosphere. That means in 3800 years all the papers will all be gone! Can you imagine that? In a few millennia, our descendants will not be able to see a picture of Britney Spear’s lady-bits flashing out of a car, and they will not be able to find out how many slappers were nailed by our professional footballers round the back of London nightclubs.
Does it matter?
The British Library think so (you’d sort of hope so, wouldn’t you?) and they care so much they are investing 130 million pounds into the whole process.
How are they going to do it?
What do you love about books, apart from reading them? For me, it’s the smell. I love the smell of old books and libraries (although not when the local tramp comes in and starts downloading pornography on the library computer) and scientists at the British Library believe that the smell is the key to understanding how the books are degrading.
There are 109 chemicals that give us that magnificent smell. One of them is acetic acid. You probably know it. You probably put it on your chips/fries earlier tonight. At the moment, they think that it might be one of the chemicals that is causing the problem, but we shall see.
E-books rock!
E-books solve everything. Unless someone lets off a global EMP (electromagnetic pulse) bomb, like in “Escape from LA,” they will be stored on our computers for as long as there are geeks in the universe. The information from every book in the library can be stored on computers. You could argue that if there are no books, then we won’t have that wonderful book smell. Surely the 130 million pounds is worth that alone?
Actually, you can buy that smell, and it will probably cost a little less. CafeScribe, an e-book selling website, are releasing a scratch and sniff sticker that will give you that musty magic! What a great idea! People love great smells. Scientists are trying to recreate the new car smell… but in a non-toxic form. Yes, that’s right, the new car smell kills you! Everything does.
To end this scientific paper, I’ll ask you a question. Does it matter that we are losing our books? Isn’t the information the important thing? I, as a man, was born with the sentimental values of a horny tomcat, but I can understand why people want to save these beautiful books, packed with heritage and history. 130 million pounds is a lot of money, though. Think what we could have done with it and the people we could have saved. Is it worth saving books that are kept in a depository, which cannot be touched by human hands and are held in an atmosphere where you won’t be able to breathe properly? You tell me.
Your books are still dying.
Does that scare you?
Losing the well worn and new book smell is a tragedy! Mark, we are on the same page with that one. I am veclempted.
Perhaps we should all start digging holes and bury some books for down the road. Snap, my future kin are gonna be rich! (ha ha) Then again will Michael Jackson syndrome have taken over (no nose) and will folks even be able to smell anyway? Just saying…….
Does that mean you could have recipe books smelling of food? Car repair books smelling of oil and grease? Erotica books smelling of … well you get my drift!
Interesting post, Mark. I’d never thought much about this subject till now. Actual conent of books will probably remain indefinitely as electronic recording, unless current storage formats go the way of Betamax! So ebooks do indeed have the future in their hands. That said, I’d still love to be able to see one of our books n the hands of a future human, or non-human … ?
Ok, my head hurts now.
Jim Brown
http://ll-publications.com
http://www.logical-lust.com
I do like the smell of a book, and the feel of one in my hand. I like the tactile sensation of turning a page, feeling the paper under my fingers.
I would assume that the Ancients had the same sort of enjoyment unrolling their papyrus rolls.
Things change.
I’d hate to think that we could lose the information as we have done with old film. But with ebooks that isn’t a given. Once I can save the scratch to buy an ebook reader I will be going that route for my reading.
Oh, I won’t stop buying those lovely, cheap, used books, but knowing I can save every book I read and enjoy, and be able to find them when I wish, is a grand step forward.
At some point we simply cannot continue to save every old thing. Make way for New Things! Make way there, I say!
Whoo-Hoo!
I got mixed feelings on this one like. Although I really do like books, as in the feel of them whilst reading, the size and the print, I think that it all depends on the actual care that has gone into making the book. For example – I’ve got a copy of House of Leaves, and the typography in the book is simply amazing, and so a lot of care and thought has been put into the layout and actual production of the book (anyone not knowing what im on about, here’s an example page of how it looks throughout the book: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d9/HouseOfLeavesPage134.gif)
Now, I much prefer to try and get hold of eBooks instead of the real printed thing, unless its a classic or something. Although it does help to have an eBook reader thing (which are currently bloody rip off) I do still buy a lot of books, but I think that this is only because my eBook readers smashed and stuck on page 34 of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.
Newspapers on the other hand – are a waste of space. Digitise them, and recycle. simple as that.
oddly enough – I’m also reading a book by Mark Jackman – the other dude on Amazon. Really is freaky mate as he has identical humour to yourself. So far the story is revolving around a builder called “The End” who’s on benefits, a badger dressed in a white suit who’s a bit of a womaniser, and a Wizard who lives in a tin shed…
“Shadow of the Badger”
it’s written by two brothers, I think. I was shocked when I read the review. Someone could have been reviewing my book!
Damn bloke having the same name. My mum was upset that there were people on the internet with the same name as me. i better not tell her one has written a book!
There are some really interesting points being raised, here. Cheers for the input, people!
Bring back stone tablets.
If they were good enough for the Egyptians to tap their pretty pictures on and God to give us his ten commandment (Poor Moses – how did he get them down from Mount Sinai?) then they should be good enough for us.
They’ll probably nee to get Handy Andy in to double brace the shelves though
Dredge, I cannot see a single thing wrong with that idea. I was going to say that you may struggle with the shelving, and the sheer weight of the stone, but you have that covered with the double bracing.
If we use Mount Everest for the stone, then it won’t be as high and not as many people will die when they climb it. This idea saves lives, is good for the building trade and the economy, and preserves books. Post and packaging could be expensive…
If this is true then I am out of a job. As a librarian, we have have discussed this issue along with libraries going out of existence. And in my opinion neither is going to happen. Sure e-books are a great new thing but they are not for everyone. Many still prefer holding a book and snuggling in a comfy spot and just lose themselves in the story. And as for the library, we are now much more than just a building that holds books. We have a little something for everyone…and yes that does include those ppl that think they have the right to watch all the porn they want….but that is another story
That’s a really interesting point, Laura. Did you watch Futurama? I loved it. There was a sketch where the cast are in Mars University, which holds the largest number of books. There were two PC terminals, one Fiction, one non-fiction.
I never thought about the community aspect. How is your library doing? With the world wide web, has there been a steady decline in people through the door? It’s sad, but I think that community spirit is dead. I am ordering more and more things online and hate it when I have to go to the supermarket, another destroyer of community spirit.
This has turned into quite a depressing post….
One thing, though, the British Library are preserving books that will never be held by human hands, and are not going to be read by the public.
it’s like that in Raiders of the Lost Ark where they store the Ark in that massive warehouse, but without the Nazis and the charasmatic Dr. Jones, himself.
That’s lightened the mood.
Now everyone hum the soundtrack with me…. hmmm hmmmh hmm
Actually, that reminds me, I watched Indianna Jones 4, the other day… Need to write a review of that disgraceful sequel.
LOL…haven’t watched an Indiana Jones movies in a very long time! As for the library, no we are actually getting more people coming in to use the computers. I have worked in 3 different libraries, all with 3 different communities and patron types and they are all coming in to use the computers. Especially now since they are looking for jobs or applying for unemployment…but don’t get me started on that. And since libraries are offering more and more childrens programming and free services people are still coming in.
I did not get a chance to visit the British Library when I was in London but I like that they are doing something to preserve their collection. We need to preserve for future generations.
I catch Futurama once in a while, so I have not seen that episode. Gonna have to go search for it on Hulu or something.
i hope not, id be out of a job, as i work at clays, ebooks just dont seem as good as a proper hardback. you cant read it on the plane if you have an ebook. you wont be able to get it signed by the author neither, so some things will be missed with out books