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    « Ten Things You Probably Don't Know About Goodwill | Main | Clutter Video Tip: Waiting Time is Not Wasted Time »

    March 02, 2011

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    Comments

    Cheri

    I am a librarian who loves books - and also spends many hours each day searching for information online. However, at home, I use an older laptop that takes half an hour from power on to actually surfing the Internet, so I don't turn it on every day. I still want quick reference materials on my shelf so that I can walk over and find an answer quickly. If I had always-on Internet access at home, I'd consider weeding, but not until then.

    Beth

    I agree with most of your suggestions but have trouble with #7 where you suggest copying the recipe out and then donating the book. From what I have heard on other forums (talking about music and patterns) this is breaking copyright. I am not a copyright lawyer and I know the laws are different in different countries but in the USA it is illegal to burn tracks from a CD and then give the CD away, why would it be different to copy some of a book and then give the book away? Making a copy for your own use of a source you own is fine but once you don't own the source anymore you don't have the right to keep the copy.

    Robert Wall

    Beth, I'm not a copyright lawyer either but by my understanding recipes can't be copyrighted. The page arrangement can be, and the collection can be, but recipes can't.

    So maybe instead of photocopying it just hand-write the couple recipes on 3x5 cards and call it good?

    I disagree on the "quotation references" one - yes, the ones you have at home don't automatically update. But some of the books have great information that no online source has.

    The key here is in having the books on your shelf that can't be duplicated online.

    There are plenty of them!

    Lorie Marrero

    Robert and Beth, I know exactly what you are talking about, particularly with music-- it's definitely copyright infringement to take a digital copy of a CD and then donate it... making your copy illegal as you no longer own the item. I am definitely not an attorney either, but I know Robert is right about recipes, and I also know that from time immemorial people have gone to libraries to do research and made copies of pages inside books to take home and keep. I think it's probably considered "fair use" to use one or two recipes, quite another issue to copy the entire cookbook. Does that make sense?

    - Lorie

    Jason

    This is a great idea. I'm a writer and a collector... so books and other things can become an issue in my living space. But there are things that can be sold off due to the Internet.

    Janet Hulstrand

    Nice piece, which fits in perfectly with the topic of the latest post on our blog, "Downsizing the Home: Lessons Learned."

    In fact I added the link to this piece to a list of resources referenced in our post when I saw it. Hope it brings a few more folks your way!

    Jeri Dansky

    Well, I need my dictionary, because the official dictionary used by Associated Press - whose style guide we use for the magazine I edit - isn't available online. But indeed, most of the reference books have disappeared from my bookshelves.

    Regarding recipes and copyright, here's some good reading:

    http://www.researchcopyright.com/article-food-recipes-and-copyright-law.php

    http://foodblogalliance.com/2009/04/recipe-attribution.php

    Seattle dui lawyer

    Yeah, I agree with you. I always check IMDB for new updates of new movies.

    Sherri

    For keeping those few recipes from a book, I use software called LIVING COOKBOOK. It is my version of the binder! It is a little work to enter the recipes but you can add tips, comments and your own instructions. I'm looking forward to the day this software or something like it will run on a smart phone or an ipad and I can look up recipes while I'm at the store!

    Lynne

    If you are worried about copyright laws and recipes, you can do what I do which is to cut out any recipes from the recipe book I am discarding.

    Lorie Marrero

    This copyright question is bothering me... First let me say that if you ask anyone in my industry, I am a big torch-carrier for intellectual property rights, but here I personally think this falls under "fair use." http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html Jeri, thanks for the links-- it seems like a lot of that is talking about taking recipes and modifying them and republishing them for profit. To me, what I am suggesting (photocopying one or two recipes and donating the book) is not any different than just hand-writing those recipes down on a card and then donating the book. Definitely read about "fair use" if you have concerns about this issue, and make a decision for yourself. - Lorie

    Claire

    I agree with the comments -- including Lorie's -- about keeping some books.

    Remember -- free online information often is worth just what you paid for it -- nothing.

    Michelle Fox

    As an MBA student, I have found that text books are another space-taker. The good news is that there is a strong push by publishers now to convert to digital e-books rather than big, hard cover printed ones. As for the stacks of books still left over from my undergrad, I plan to donate or resell them because 1) I will probably never touch them again, and 2)there is nothing in those books I can't look up on the internet.

    LJRich

    I actually disagree with almost everything on this list.

    Becoming overly dependent on the internet, or on technology itself, will come back and bite you in the backside someday.

    There is no replacement for an actual atlas. GPS devices are notoriously inaccurate, Sat navs are as well, and the internet is not always available from the road and especially not out in the middle of nowhere. If you want to be lost, and perhaps put your life in danger, don't own a paper atlas. Maps are invaluable, and relying on Google maps in events of emergency will get you killed.

    WebMD is biased. Not to mention if something should happen and internet is not available and you need a medical reference, you're going to wish you had even an OUTDATED one. Most people don't even bother owning that much. But, again, the internet is not a replacement for good, sound references like this in the event of an emergency(which is why you'd even want one, correct?!).

    Most people just don't like to think of what MIGHT happen if we no longer have the internet to rely on, or what happens in a really big emergency, but it's thinking of those things that can save your life. Nothing on this list is replaceable by the internet.

    If you had said

    Romance Novels
    Twilight
    Anything by Jane Austen

    Then I'd have agreed. Because we have Kindles for all of those. And, they're totally worthless in emergencies.

    Eleanore Hartz

    Lorie,
    The wisdom of our species is contained in books. Close the libraries, take away the books, the access to the shelves, the card catalog and a fully categorized system of organization of ALL knowledge, and soon we will only know what the powers-that-be want us to know. Thank God for books!
    I love having books, touching books, reading books, feeling the connection between myself and the author, thinking of what has been said, framing my thoughts in response. Yes, they take space. Many of them weigh a lot. Oh, well.
    I have yet to find a book that says "Not Responding" on its 1st page, or refuses to open at all. I only have to buy a book once (or take it out of the public library). I don't have to update it to a new version, or play it on a new machine, or find out that the machine it used to play on is no longer made and sold. I don't need to pay for a machine that has 30,000 books on it, none of which may be the book I want, many of which will cost additional money once the machine itself is paid for.
    I love the feel of paper, and the ability to hold my place while I look back or forward. I love to scan a shelf of books and speculate on which one I feel like reading now, today. I like to see my options.
    Books are quiet. Not much today is quiet. People don't seem to know how to be quiet. Even if they are not speaking, they have to "text" banal remarks. They also don't seem to know how to be alone. There can be much value and peace in being quiet and being alone. And opening a book.

    Ruth

    Here is some excellent information explicitly about recipe copyright law from the government itself:

    Source: http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl122.html (last reviewed by their people in Nov. 2010)

    EXCERPT:

    Copyright law does not protect recipes that are mere listings of ingredients. Nor does it protect other mere listings of ingredients such as those found in formulas, compounds, or prescriptions. Copyright protection may, however, extend to substantial literary expression—a description, explanation, or illustration, for example—that accompanies a recipe or formula or to a combination of recipes, as in a cookbook.

    Only original works of authorship are protected by copyright. “Original” means that an author produced a work by his or her own intellectual effort instead of copying it from an existing work.

    Lorie Marrero

    It looks like people are overlooking these sentences in my post:

    "I am not saying you SHOULD get rid of these if you like them, but I am merely asking some questions to get you thinking."

    "Again, I am a book lover, so I am not suggesting you get rid of books you use and love."

    I believe in and love books as much as the next person. I also wrote one. :)

    I do know for SURE that many of our books are sitting there unused for many, many years because we never reference them anymore. If you do, PLEASE keep them, and if you feel strongly about any of this, please do what you feel is right for you. I just want people to think twice about the "real estate" that is taken up on their shelves and how it's being used. The books I listed that I am donating I have not touched in at least 2 years or more because I am a writer who is using a computer and the internet 99% of the time.

    Thanks, everyone, for your very thoughtful input here!

    Cheers,
    Lorie

    Kim Oser, Certified Professional Organizer

    Convinced a client to donate a book on watches. He researches everything on the Internet now. He couldn't remember which watch he had wanted to research or if he even still owned the watch. The book was close to 2" thick. We donated it to Friends of the Library, along with some others that told the value of particular items. Most older books that are 'valuation guides' are out of date and can be recycled. The most current info is available on the Internet and takes up no space on your book shelf.

    Thanks for great post and giving us something to ponder.

    Jeri Dansky

    LJRich, you reminded me that the one medical reference book I do still have in paper format is The Pocket Doctor (http://www.amazon.com/Pocket-Doctor-Passport-Healthy-Travel/dp/0898866146) - exactly the kind of thing you might want in an emergency. I got it years ago to take with me when traveling.

    But I also have a first aid app on my iPhone - which was very handy when I had a medical question when I was driving around one day. It's the same one someone used during the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti. (http://articles.cnn.com/2010-01-24/world/haiti.survivor.phone.app_1_hotel-montana-haiti-earthquake?_s=PM:WORLD)

    Sandy

    Internet research is convenient, but it often lacks the editorial oversight that printed resources have. Too many people believe whatever they find online, especially with medical information.

    Ironically, I keep my own extensive book collection in check by donating most fiction I know I will not read again and using the library whenever possible. I do not begrudge reference books shelf space. Even if I can look it up online, I love knowing I can find the information even if the power is out or the hard drive crashes. Besides, the journey to the data is often the best part of the trip -- how many interesting words have I found on the way to the one I thought I wanted? Pick up a copy of Brewer's Phrase and Fable for the ultimate illustration of this principle!

    I collect cookbooks. If I found a recipe good enough to copy and save, why in the world would I give the book away? Surely other recipes might be good too, and how can you be sure you won't want to try them? I donate books with recipes I did not like or those I find I never use at all.

    Home Stagers

    yes that's true but not just in case of books but almost everything, computers are replacing everything Just name it !!!

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