Comments on: Liberating old papers http://davecole.org/blog/2008/04/18/liberating-old-papers/ Dave Cole's thoughts on politics, culture and modern life. Fri, 30 Jul 2010 04:50:03 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Erik http://davecole.org/blog/2008/04/18/liberating-old-papers/comment-page-1/#comment-1175 Erik Sun, 20 Apr 2008 02:17:59 +0000 http://davecole.org/blog/2008/04/18/liberating-old-papers/#comment-1175 Yes, the internet is changing everything. They have started to put some Hansard material online, but it's in a "developmental" format (zips of xml pages) that are tricky to use. The parliamentary reports are still via Proquest only. Maybe things are changing. Let's hope so. (And don't forget, the "decent public libraries" which stock this material don't exist everywhere -- not here in Taiwan for example). Btw, the interview is here: http://web.splashcast.net/go/so/2/p/BVOA1593YS/s/OWWM6184EA/sc/983328/fs/ Yes, the internet is changing everything. They have started to put some Hansard material online, but it’s in a “developmental” format (zips of xml pages) that are tricky to use. The parliamentary reports are still via Proquest only. Maybe things are changing. Let’s hope so. (And don’t forget, the “decent public libraries” which stock this material don’t exist everywhere — not here in Taiwan for example).

Btw, the interview is here: http://web.splashcast.net/go/so/2/p/BVOA1593YS/s/OWWM6184EA/sc/983328/fs/

]]> By: peezedtee http://davecole.org/blog/2008/04/18/liberating-old-papers/comment-page-1/#comment-1174 peezedtee Sat, 19 Apr 2008 21:47:52 +0000 http://davecole.org/blog/2008/04/18/liberating-old-papers/#comment-1174 I agree with you: this is disgraceful. But it is not new. At least 25 years ago, an outfit called Harvester Press produced microfiches of 19th century parliamentary returns and other official papers and flogged them off, presumably for profit, to various libraries, and for a fee one could subscribe to them. The internet has changed everything and in a democracy it should be a means for improving access to free public information for everybody. Up to now, quite a lot of Hansard stuff, going back I'm not sure quite how far, has been available free on the HMSO website, or whatever it is called these days. Is that no longer so? Anyway, fortunately you can still access all this material in print, in any decent public library. I agree with you: this is disgraceful. But it is not new. At least 25 years ago, an outfit called Harvester Press produced microfiches of 19th century parliamentary returns and other official papers and flogged them off, presumably for profit, to various libraries, and for a fee one could subscribe to them.

The internet has changed everything and in a democracy it should be a means for improving access to free public information for everybody.

Up to now, quite a lot of Hansard stuff, going back I’m not sure quite how far, has been available free on the HMSO website, or whatever it is called these days. Is that no longer so?

Anyway, fortunately you can still access all this material in print, in any decent public library.

]]> By: Erik http://davecole.org/blog/2008/04/18/liberating-old-papers/comment-page-1/#comment-1170 Erik Fri, 18 Apr 2008 21:15:52 +0000 http://davecole.org/blog/2008/04/18/liberating-old-papers/#comment-1170 Hi Dave, thanks for the promo. Let me know what you think of the programme. Who is this Peter Bottomley character they were going to put on? Seems like a colourful, Conservative, backbencher. yours always, Hi Dave, thanks for the promo. Let me know what you think of the programme. Who is this Peter Bottomley character they were going to put on? Seems like a colourful, Conservative, backbencher.

yours always,

]]>