"An Ode to Digitized Texts"--NaPoWriMo #10

An Ode to Digitized Texts

I want to sing an ode to the internet

and digitized sources.

Twenty years ago, I did my

dissertation on little-known writers

of the 17^th and 18^th centuries.

Rare books had to be borrowed

from far away libraries.

Some read in situ, copiously

taking notes as the pages were too fragile

to photocopy.

                                Those plays that had been

included in facsimile editions were copied

at a huge cost of time and money.

So much so that I kept them for over

fifteen years “just in case”. Did you

know that photocopied words will

impress into the plastic folder that

holds them, neatly lifting off the page,

leaving nothing but a shadow

of memory on the page?

Rarely, a volume could be bought,

Though a stretch for a poor student’s

budget. One who was a new mother, as well.

But if it were under a hundred, I’d bite.

That was half the weekly cost of the

babysitter and a sacrifice.

All these years later, I am going

back to my true love: early 18^th century.

Having lost my precious copies,

I feared finding what I need in this

far distant desert. But as I tell my students,

Google is our friend. As is Project Gutenberg,

The University of Michigan

and Google books.

                                All my old friends are here,

And more! The wisdom of that age, digitized

by volunteers, scholars and technicians.

Scanning thousands upon thousands,

giving poor and distant scholars access.

A mere twenty years ago, I could not

have dreamt of such riches, such bounty.

There are some who despair of “technology”.

They fear it, or say it is dehumanizing us all.

But how very human, this desire to save the

precious, the rare. 

                                My hard drive now holds

more of these nearly lost works than I ever

handled back then. Do I miss the feel of paper,

of leather, the smell of ancient printing?

Of course.

But I can visit them. Go to libraries when

I can. But now I can also work and study

And share knowledge of these riches

with the world. Make sure my fore-

mothers are remembered and 

given credit for the hard work they did

so that I have the right to write.

So an ode to the internet and

digitized sources. For those who

dreamt of a world where books

were forever.