But the idea that a library's information resources can be adequately or meaningfully represented by a preponderance of public domain materials is senseless. Libraries are committed to continuing the traditional service that they have been providing to patrons in the actual world, where information is always fixed to a medium. This service has been free, and, in all but exceptional circumstances, materials that are both in and not in the public domain are equally accessible. This tradition is not practiced online. It is a cause for great concern among most professionals, and it should be a cause for equal concern among us all.
Digitization costs a great deal of time and money.
The presumption that libraries can afford to serve their collections digitally in addition to serving them onsite or through traditional interlibrary loan must be questioned. Library collections are assets, but they seldom have been income-producing assets. The Marketing of Collections Treating information resources as cultural heritage that can be marketed is a new idea for libraries. If these texts were digitized, they would add a significant asset to the global digital library. The process of selecting items for digitization requires librarians to assume new and often uncomfortable roles.