Web is alive and Showing new Life

Paris, Nov. 2: Twenty autumns ago, Tim Berners-Lee, a British computer scientist, came up with a catchy name for a revolutionary project that aimed to open the Internet to the masses. “The World Wide Web,” he called it, and the image proved to be so evocative that, for many people, the Web has become synonymous with the Internet.




But now, two decades after Mr. Berners-Lee had his brainstorm, some people are predicting the demise of the Web. Even though the Web is merely one of many online applications, they add, this could be the end of the Internet as we know it.



“The Web is dead,” Wired magazine declared in a recent cover story. “The golden age of the Web is coming to an end,” wrote Josh Bernoff, an analyst at Forrester Research. The Atlantic magazine warned of “the closing of the digital frontier.”



The argument goes something like this: After falling in love with the openness of the Web, consumers are recoiling from its chaos and embracing the sense of order offered by walled-off digital realms. These include applications for mobile devices like Apple’s iPad and iPhone and password-protected social networks like Facebook, where much of what people do takes place beyond the reach of search engines and Web browsers.



Meanwhile, advocates of openness fear that telecommunications companies want to build separate, Balkanized “Internets” of their own, where they control the content and collect tolls for traffic that passes through them. Some media companies are already putting more of their content, once freely available, behind pay walls, and lobbying governments to crack down on the free-for-all of illegal file-sharing.



Jonathan Zittrain, a Harvard professor of Internet law, says that the growth of walled gardens like Apple’s applications store have threatened the “generative” character of the Internet, which has permitted users to build on what is already there, as with Lego toys.



“The serendipity of outside tinkering that has marked that generative era gave us the Web, instant messaging, peer-to-peer networking, Skype, Wikipedia — all ideas out of left field,” he writes in a recent book, “The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It.” “Now it is disappearing, leaving a handful of new gatekeepers in place, with us and them prisoner to their limited business plans and to regulators who fear things that are new and disruptive.”



Are matters really so dire? For the doomsayers, there are some inconvenient truths.



Every day, about a million new devices — computers, mobile phones, televisions and other things — are hooked up to the Internet, according to Rod Beckstrom, chief executive of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which oversees the Internet address system. The total number of Internet users worldwide, about two billion, is growing by 100 million to 200 million a year.



Most of this growth is occurring in developing countries, where the Web is dominant and applications stores and the like have made fewer inroads.



The number of Web pages has grown from 26 million in 1998 to more than a trillion today, according to Google.



The Web has been better equipped to reach new corners of the world since the recent opening up of the domain name system to non-Western languages. North America, which once dominated the Internet, now represents only 13.5 percent of its users, according to Internet World Stats, a Web site that compiles such data, compared with 42 percent for Asia and 24 percent for Europe.

“Reports of the death of the Web have been greatly exaggerated,” Mr. Beckstrom said. “It’s going to be alive and kicking for a long time.”



While the Web is merely one of many applications that operate over the Internet, along with e-mail, instant messaging, peer-to-peer file-sharing services and other tools, it is the most familiar one for many people; almost anyone, anywhere with an Internet connection and a little bit of knowledge can view a Web page.



So as other kinds of Internet traffic have started to grow more rapidly than Web use, some open-Internet campaigners see a threat to the Web and, more generally, the Internet as we know it. Yet the distinctions are growing less relevant.



When you visit YouTube, for example, you are using the Web to sort through the available videos, while the video stream is delivered outside the Web, but still via the Internet.



Even if the supposed threats have been overblown, it is clear that the Web and the Internet are changing.



Mobile devices increasingly come with Internet access as a standard feature. Within a few years, analysts predict, more people will connect to the Internet from

smartphones than from deskbound

computers.

Word Wide Web

New Delhi: to be deposited by publishers and that the University Grants Commission’s Information Library Network (INFLIBNET) be also involved in the movement. Engaging schools, local book clubs, NGOs, resident organisations, Panchayati Raj Institutions, post offices, railways, authors’ organisations, publishers and booksellers organisations for book promotion is also desired.




Aimed at giving a boost to the publishing industry in the country, it is proposed that the possibility of granting the status of ‘industry’ to book publishing be examined and that the Indian Council for Cultural Resources be roped in to promote books by Indian publishers and authors abroad. Rationalisation of the cost of paper to enable affordability of books, assessment of the FDI policy on book publishing and bringing down postal rates for book dispatch by mail order are other measures suggested to bring down prices of books.



Setting up state-level Book Promotion Councils, National Book Exhibition and Book Fairs Authority, compulsory space allocation for bookshops at all shopping malls, new residential colonies and apartments are steps suggested to encourage book distribution mechanisms. It is proposed that subsidies be introduced for export and import of books and an Indian Institute of Publishing Management & Technology be set up to offer courses in publishing science, children’s literature, editorial studies, book designing, e-publishing and research on the publishing sector....

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A meeting with ‘Gnanalaya’ B. Krishnamurthy and falls in love with his collection

collection




The warm smell of parchment is an aphrodisiac to him.



Surely, there must be something stimulating about sitting in a high ceilinged room, walled in by majestic tomes and musty paperbacks on all sides, flipping through centuries of tales waiting to be told.



When a book is opened, time stands still for a special man as the moment is sheer magic for him. Magic that continues to tie B. Krishnamurthy to his books.



Bibliophile Krishnamurthy is the proud possessor of 70,000 titles. His ‘Gnanalaya’ Research Library at Tirukokarnam near Pudukottai is easily one of the biggest private libraries in the country. The USP of his library is the wide collection of priceless first editions in Tamil.



“First editions are always special. Often, subsequent editions are shorn off the preface, forewords and valuable introductions that the author may have written. These provide a rare insight into the life and times of the author, the social and historical context which can enhance research.”



He may have not read the entire collection of books, but he is well aware of what lies within their covers. “Even if I am a thousand miles away, I can tell you which rack and which row to find the book you are looking for.”



His veritable treasure trove is a sanctuary for researchers who flock from India and abroad. The man who pursues knowledge relentlessly is absolutely unselfish in sharing it and that is what makes him an invaluable asset for research scholars. “My wife Dorothy and I have met almost all major Tamil writers. We have been able to add valuable inputs to any research as we know the thinking process of the author and what you may call as the other side of the story. In that way, I am happy we can enhance research,” he smiles genially.



Gnanalaya is typical of all oaks being acorns once. The first seed for its existence was sown when Krishnamurthy at seventeen, stumbled upon ‘Swadeshi Geethangal’, Subramania Bharathiyar’s first self- published anthology of poems.



“I was puzzled when I discovered ‘En Maganae’, a poem by Madurai Muthukumaran among Bharathiyar’s poems. Later I learnt that Bharathi had called for national songs and poems from poets before publishing his anthology. It was then I realized the value of first editions. It revealed Bharathis’ generous spirit to acknowledge his peers.”



As a book collector Krishnamurthy has the instincts of a pearl diver. For years, he has delighted in rummaging in old bookshops to unearth hidden treasures, apart from inheriting a few private collections. With both husband and wife in government service as teachers, the books were carted around every time one of them was transferred till they settled down in Pudukottai . In 1999, with their retirement benefits, the couple set up ‘Gnanalaya’ as a full- fledged library.



An ardent admirer of Gandhian thought and Vivekananda’s philosophy, he attributes the growth of the library to friends, scholars and writers who encouraged him. The library is home to 15,000 titles in English covering a motley of subjects while the rest are Tamil books, magazines and journals.



Treasured among his stack are letters of Rajaji and Bharathiyar’ s daughter Thangammal Bharathi’s first editions of Bharathi and Bharathidasan, early issues of revolutionary magazines like ‘Kudiarasu’, ‘ Viduthalai’ and Gandhi’s Harijan, back issues of the Reader’s Digest right from the first Indian edition and 1,500 Tamil literary magazines from 1920 to 2010.



“From Bharathiyar to Sujatha, the literary careers of writers took off in these little literary magazines. But today commercial magazines have taken over and these literary magazines have very poor subscription,” he says wistfully.



Krishnamurthy reiterates that preservation of books requires two key elements: air and light, though you could say that love is the secret ingredient that ensures the oldest of books are well preserved, nay cherished. As a fully air- conditioned library in a region with erratic power supply would apparently cost a fortune, the library has been built at a height of 14 feet with windows at nine feet to let natural light and air work wonders.



Battling escalating maintenance costs, he reveals that last year alone cost him Rs.2,50,000 inclusive of staff salaries. Until recently, no charges were levied and the Krishnamurthys entertained visitors at home, free of cost. Today, a minimal service fee for photocopying and lamination is charged. Though the library does not lend books, researchers are free to browse for hours and take photocopies.



The man has you starry eyed when he glibly talks about books and draws parallels and allusions to literary works- all in the same breath. Little wonder that he is a sought after guest lecturer. He has delivered lectures on Tamil Renaissance, social movements and printing technology in Singapore, Penang and London. His enthusiasm to revive old and out of print has borne out well, resulting in more than 3000 books being reprinted on his suggestion.



Krishnamurthy is well in step with the age and believes in keeping up with the times. “I am not against technology. With the growing popularity of e-books, we are planning to explore that option to provide greater access to researchers.”



He has come up with an innovative way to record the leagacy he owns. “Today my memory is pretty good, but soon age would get the better of me. I may not be able to locate books easily. So, I am currently recording a oral history of all the books in the library. Each shelf would have a recorder that would narrate the contents of the rack for better reference.”



Krishnamurthy’s only regret is his inability to woo youth to turn to books.



“Education has become highly job- oriented today and language has taken a backseat. Appreciation of literature and creative thinking is naturally bound to suffer,” he laments.



Post retirement, ‘Gnanalaya’ has evolved into this book lover’s full time fixation. Not the one to idle his hours away, he spends his day lost within the covers of his precious tomes and inviting kindred spirits to do the same.



Shared Passion



Wife Dorothy Krishnamurthy shares her husband’s passion for books and is highly instrumental for the existence and growth of ‘Gnanalaya’. Incidentally, as Krishnamurthy lightheartedly puts it, ‘It was my books that drew her to me’. In 1969, the couple married in true Gandhian style, attired in khadi, without any religious conversion on both sides. Dorothy Krishanmurthy worked as Professor of Botany in various government colleges. She is an avid translator and her first publication was ‘Valarpirai’, a translation of Tagore’s ‘Crescent Moon’ which interestingly was the first book Krishnamurthy lent her that marked the beginning of their courtship.



Keywords: books, literature, ‘Gnanalaya’ B. Krishnamurthy