User talk:Simon/Proprietorising

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Koninglijke Bibliotheek (Royal Library), The Hague

On a Monday morning I took a train to the Hague, where the Koninglijke Bibliotheek, Nationale bibliotheek van Nederland, is located. I was spurred on to visit after looking for a book that Steve recommended called Information Ages, which apparently was available in the collection of the Royal Library when I looked through Worldcat.

On arrival at the Royal Library, I went straight to the reception. I asked "Is this the Royal Library?" and the receptionist replied "It's up there", pointing upstairs, "But you need a pass to enter".

"Ok, can I get a pass there?" "Yes, but you have to put your coat and bag downstairs in a locker". "Ok, thanks".

It wasn't a very warm reception. After locking my things away, I went upstairs to the front desk of the library, where I met a more helpful staff member, who patiently explained to me that I needed to register online at a computer "over there", and that I also needed a form of ID (no problem), and something with my address on it (small problem as I didn't have anything). Most of the collection is held in stacks and must be reserved to be read. There were a lot of rules to be observed, including a reading room in which computers were not allowed (the click-clacking of typing was an issue), and although the staff member could reserve the books I needed, I couldn't take them home until my address had been verified.

He explained:

"If you reserve before 8:30 they'll be there at 10:00, if you reserve before 10:30 they'll be there at 1:00. And if you reserve before 1:30, they'll be there at 3:00."

Cool. I registered online, then paid an annual membership fee (usually 15 euros, but as I am a student it was 7.50). It seemed quite strange that a national library charged for membership, and I was curious as to why.

I left, and returned the next day to collect the two books I had reserved. At the front desk was a different staff member, who carefully explained where I needed to go to pick up my books. When I got to the collection desk, a rather flustered librarian told me that the system was down. She had my books on a shelf, but had to check to see if I could take them home or not (most of the collection can not be taken outside of the library). Thankfully she improvised an old-fashioned solution by writing down my membership details and the call number of each book. It turned out that I could take the books home. I left as fast as I could, keen to get back to school where I could scan the books and liberate them from the Royal Library.

bootleg book: Information ages: literacy, numeracy, and the computer revolution

Printed: 26.11.19
Dimensions: 155x235mm
Cover stock: Clairefontaine Trophee (white) 210gsm
Text stock: Laser 80gsm
Binding: Perfect bound, cold glue
Pages: 320pp

I could only find this as a printed book available for purchase online, or to borrow from the closest library, which is the Koninklijke Bibliotheek in The Hague. So, I went to the KB in the Hague, registered a membership (costing 7,50 euro per year) and borrowed the book. I scanned the book on a photocopier back at PZI (it took about 40 mins and many apologies to those who wanted to use it), and then printed and bound it by hand using a cold glue binding technique. The file produced by scanning actually took longer to be transferred over the network than it did to scan the entire book. I optimised the file after receiving it, which produced splotchy text and images (in some places the print looked damaged by water). The cover was an impromptu decision - to use the same method. The copy was made in about 2 hours.

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  Front cover: Bootleg (left) and source publication (right)

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  Spine: Source publication

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  Spine: Bootleg

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  Spines: Source publication (left) and bootleg (right)

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  Spread: Source publication (left) and bootleg (right)

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  Spread: Images in source publication

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  Spread: Images in bootleg