Blockchain Papers

Katalin Bella

Book history research can address the emergence of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as an experimental initiative arising from technological advances in book publishing and the book trade.The relationship between NFTs and textual entities can be examined in two main areas.On the one hand, there is the tokenisation of authors' intellectual products, or born-digital content that is already created as NFTs.From this perspective, we will explore how NFTs can empower authors, enhance the reading experience, address copyright concerns and provide new revenue sources.By tokenising books, articles, and other literary works, NFTs can help to foster a decentralised and transparent ecosystem that benefits authors, readers and the publishing industry as a whole.Books, on the other hand, can also become NFTs for real assets as collectable works of art.This could mean transforming old and rare books, literary relics, and ephemera into NFTs, to allow individuals to authenticate and transfer ownership of tangible and intangible assets.In my paper I will concentrate only on the second. ***Book history research can address the emergence of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as an experimental initiative arising from technological advances in book publishing and the book trade.A few years ago, NFTs generated significant interest within the art and art trading communities, with large sums exchanged as artists, museums, and collectors embraced this new market.However, shifting economic conditions ultimately led to a market crash, drastically reducing the real value of cryptocurrency and, consequently, the NFTs purchased with it.Despite this downturn, NFTs still present a transformative economic opportunity for authors, creators and other book industry professionals.With speculators now largely absent, NFT creators and book industry professionals can refocus on collaboration and community-building through the medium. 1 The primary utility of NFTs lies in the digital verification of ownership, making them highly relevant to book history research that explores the transfer of ownership.

Greeshma Arya

By offering fresh approaches to solve long-standing issues like too much centralisation, not involving everyone, and not giving consumers enough autonomy, Web3 technologies are rapidly altering the way typical banking systems operate. One of the most fascinating fresh developments in the field is the growing Web3 membership. These empower consumers over their financial transactions by use of distributed platforms and blockchain technology. Unlike conventional membership models, Web3 payments let users to handle their own data, create explicit arrangements, and get services free from intermediaries. This article examines how Web3 subscriptions can transform the financial climate and open everyone's access. Subscription-based services let users freely access enhanced privacy, security, and control over their personal financial data. Web3 contracts remove obstacles to access so that those without bank accounts may utilize financial services, hence fostering financial inclusion. By shifting authority from centralized financial institutions to individuals, the decentralised framework of these models also allows consumers greater autonomy and independence. This paper investigates the advantages and drawbacks of Web3 accounts including legal concerns, user behavior problems, and growth capability. Following extensive research, we find methods to enhance Web3 membership systems so that they remain scalable, secure, and open for a broad spectrum of users. Finally, this research reveals how Web3 payments could alter the dynamics of financial models, therefore promoting a more open and user-centric attitude to financial services.

Livia Turnbull, Gabi Arrigoni

With high-carbon emissions and questionable associations with speculative investments, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been framed as controversial objects within the museum context. At a time where collecting institutions are taking responsibility for climate action, this chapter maps the thorny questions faced by the Design and Digital curatorial division at the Victoria and Albert Museum in considering the acquisition of objects able to speak about NFTs. This chapter investigates the tension developed around the desire to represent a major game changer in contemporary digital culture and digital artistic practice, and the desire to operate as an environmentally conscious institution. Based on the analysis of meeting minutes and a focus group, the chapter delineates potential ethical alternatives, such as collecting objects that refer to NFTs without using any blockchain technology. It also explores the challenges that the museum could face if, without successful critical framing, it is perceived to offer an ‘institutional seal of approval’, potentially further legitimising and promoting NFTs. As studies on the environmental sustainability of museum collections are in their infancy, this chapter aims at broadening the debate and calls for new approaches to guide decision-making where conflicting demands are at stake.

Lynette Owen

This chapter outlines initiatives taken by publishers over the years as technology has developed; these included early and unsuccessful experiments with multimedia products in the trade sector with later more successful ventures in the educational and academic sectors. It charts the move of database publishing from CD-ROMs to online services and the move from DVDs for video content to online streaming services. Coverage is given to the powerful video games industry, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the development of handheld electronic devices including dedicated e-readers, tablets and increasingly sophisticated smartphones, all of which may provide platforms for copyright content. Coverage is also given to enhanced e-books and apps, many of which have been produced by publishers themselves, often working with software developers. The chapter flags the increased popularity of podcasts, although these rarely feature complete copyright works. Coverage is given to several legal disputes between the major trade publishers and Apple and Amazon on e-book pricing policies. In the academic and professional sectors, coverage is provided on aggregators which supply curated collections of e-books from a range of publishers to institutions on a subscription basis, with rightsholders normally receiving a share of revenue defined as sales rather than as licence income; this sector has also seen a rise in textbook rental models. Publishers need to acquire a suitably wide range of electronic rights in their head contracts with authors; this chapter provides a checklist of issues which publishers should raise with would-be digital licensees, in particular with regard to payment models, and a list of key contractual points for licence arrangements, whether for verbatim use of copyright content or for inclusion in multimedia products.

Yonathan A. Arbel, Shmuel I. Becher

No abstract is available for this record.

Kristof Lommers, Mohamed Baioumy

No abstract is available for this record.

Tommaso Giordano

Consortia for the sharing of electronic resources represent one of the most important current developments in the field of libraries. These increasingly widespread cooperation programmes present a double nature: they show the characteristics of initiatives which are transitory in nature; on the other hand they demonstrate their long-term potential. Comparative research into consortia in Western Europe was aimed at determining their principal characteristics, emerging models, and the critical factors of their development. From an analysis of 18 consortia from the viewpoints of scope and geographical dimension, policy and programme, governance, infrastructure and financing, a diverse picture emerges, with notable differences between countries in terms of both level of development and manner of implementation. In addition to historic and cultural factors, various other factors of a political and managerial nature, such as the degree of political and administrative decentralization, national technological programmes, the regular availability of special financing, organizational structure, and the legal status of the consortium, all play a decisive role. Three principal consortia models seem to be establishing themselves: a centralized model (principally in the Nordic countries), a decentralized model (currently the most widespread), and a regional model (in some countries with decentralized political systems).

Karen A. Schmidt

Lives of Noisy Desperation: A Year's Work in Collection Development, 1989 development literature of 1989 shows how well the profession is coping with declining budgets, spiraling costs, and new technologies. A selective number of articles and books on the following topics are reviewed: general works on development; financing; serials; new technology; evaluation and measurement; automation; cooperative arrangements; selection and review; preservation, storage and size; vendors and acquisitions; and education and training. literature suggests that librarians in charge of development must continue to deal with financial burdens and an expanding list of demands for new materials in all formats. The mass of men, wrote Henry Thoreau, lives of quiet desperation.[1] For those involved in development and management activities these days, there is little time for the luxury of quiet. Collection managers have fallen on desperate times, their work a reflection of a dizzying display of declining budgets, spiraling costs, and new technologies. development literature of 1989 shows how well the profession is coping with these trends after the whiplash of 1987 and 1988. Included in this literature review are a selective number of articles and books produced during 1989, listed under a dozen topics of general concern to the manager. Two topics, preservation and matters relating to acquisitions as an adjunct to development, are touched on only briefly. A number of substantial works appeared this year, including full-length texts and a reprise of important pieces published years before. range of publications shows the growth of this sector of librarianship and the positive responses to the problems facing our collections. General Works Two important texts appeared, providing comprehensive overviews of the work of management. Wortman's Collection Management: Background and Principles treats all aspects of management in a way that is beneficial to both the student and the practitioner. Shoemaker's Collection Management: Current Issues is a of in-depth essays that document the state of the art of development as we understand it today. A shorter treatment of this general area is found in the Association of College & Research Libraries' CLIP note Collection Development Policies for College Libraries, which details policies for college libraries. need to shift our focus from documents to content and from collections to individuals is the focus of Drake's article, while Schwartz provides an extensive review of the decision-making process of book selection. Atkinson puts the role of development in a historical setting to develop a systemized approach to the problems in the field, similar in some respects to the arguments posed by Buckland, who examines the scope of development and suggests that we begin regarding development much as we regard file organization with a computer system. This approach allows the development librarian to see how files are used, as opposed to looking solely at the substance of the file. Bucknall discusses the problems and promises of organizing activities in one centralized area as opposed to a coordinated but decentralized approach. often-unspoken politics of development are the theme of Bullard's editorial, in which he discusses the political overtones of writing a policy statement and engaging teaching faculty and administrators in the process. An overview of collection development in action is provided in the lead essay by Fiste from a day-long workshop at the University of Toledo. Atkinson provides a scholarly essay on referential abstraction in bibliography and the ways in which bibliography is used in library selection. …