Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Small task - ALA statement

The ALA position, as outlined in their statement, is not feasible or even desirable. There is plenty of information that should not be available to everyone. People's private information should be able to remain private, children should be able to be protected from information that could damage them and we certainly don't want terrorists to have access to information that can assist them.
If there is a legitimate need for information to be available in a different format, e.g. talking books for the blind, then it should be provided, but making different formats available just for the sake of it, is a waste of money and resources. It is also sometimes a futile exercise. Imagine converting an art book to an audio format or a CD of bird calls to a printed format.
It is impossible to deliver all information at all levels of comprehension. Imagine a board book on Einstein's Theory of Relativity. Once again, if there is a genuine need, it should be provided but what toddler needs to know about relativity? If someone from Mongolia want to read Pickwick Papers every effort should be made to ensure she can do that but that doesn't mean that all Dicken's works should be translated into every language in the world.
I am very wary of statements using 'all' as you can usually find at least one exception and this statement from ALA is no exception.

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