Letters To and From Baen's First Librarian
This section lists letters from readers to Baen's "First Librarian", Eric Flint, and responses he made in return about the Free Library and its offerings, but more importantly these discuss the experiences of Baen with offering free titles and further discuss issues in ePublishing in general. Of particular note, are the grateful letters from blind and handicapped individuals, and the wide geographic demographic of the Baen experiment. However, most of the material is historically interesting 'snapshots' of the arguments over intellectual property rights in the early days of the Free Library and development of the Baen Books publishing style of offering titles both by download and in print.
| Link and Title of Page | Description in Brief |
|---|---|
| *Introducing the Baen Free Library | Eight pages on how the library came to be and the software piracy and publisher issues in general. |
| *Letters to the Librarian December 20th, 2000 | A selection of 123 letters about the free library as seen by the readers; of particular note: Messages from a blind reader and a handicapped reader. |
| *Letters to the Librarian January 16th, 2001 | Special Report on 200 plus Letters received in 24 hours when the Free Library made internet news. |
| Letters to the Librarian February 04th, 2001 | Special Report on self-publishing on the internet with commentary by First Librarian Eric Flint. |
| M.P. Macaulay on copyright law 1841 issues | Two speeches on copyright law to the British House of Commons during 1841, characterized by historian Flint as brilliant, as they cover the issues still problematic in copyright law. |
| Letters to the Librarian, Eric Flint September 1, 2001 | This matter deals with intellectual property rights and piracy of intellectual materials |
| Letters to the Librarian, Eric Flint April 15, 2002 | One and a half years into the Library, Flint provides hard numbers on how sales and works listed on the Baen Free Library are related. |
| Letters to the Librarian, Eric Flint April 26, 2002 | More numbers on how hypothetical thefts can't be harming publishing industry to any significant extent. Discusses as well Book Vs eBook preferences, and need for authors to achieve exposure and the role of the Free Library in providing such. |
| Letters to the Librarian, Eric Flint April 26, 2002 | Discusses prominent writers opposed to eBooks for free, and cites how such might help their sales. |
| Letters to the Librarian#1, Eric Flint May 12, 2002 | Stance on helping blind and handicapped persons and others of limited means including kids obtain free materials with an argument of how that eventually helps an authors sales. |
| Letters to the Librarian#2, Eric Flint May 12, 2002 | Discusses paper versus screen reading; studies showing much better retention from paper learning, and includes a long letter relating experiences on sales by an educational publisher once they offered free works like Baen Free Library. |
| Reprint by singer and song writer Janis Ian September 16, 2002 | Three-time Grammy award winner Janis Ian in an article reprint excoriating the music publishing industry and praising Baen and a few others. Flint makes one comment— a minor correction which supports Ms. Ian's point. (This is the last of the Letters to the Librarian) |
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Famous quotes containing the words letters and/or librarian:
“This is the Night Mail crossing the Border,
Bringing the cheque and the postal order,
Letters for the rich, letters for the poor,
The shop at the corner, the girl next door.”
—W.H. (Wystan Hugh)
“In early days, I tried not to give librarians any trouble, which was where I made my primary mistake. Librarians like to be given trouble; they exist for it, they are geared to it. For the location of a mislaid volume, an uncatalogued item, your good librarian has a ferret’s nose. Give her a scent and she jumps the leash, her eye bright with battle.”
—Catherine Drinker Bowen (1897–1973)