All of us are citizens in a republic much larger than the Republic of America. It is the Republic of Letters, a realm of the mind that extends everywhere, without police, national boundaries, or disciplinary frontiers.
Robert DarntonRead
Thanks to modern technology, we now can deliver every text in every research library to every citizen in our country, and to everyone in the world. If we fail to do so, we are not living up to our civic duty.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the responsibility of utilizing technology to ensure access to information for all citizens.
Robert Darnton highlights the transformative power of modern technology in making knowledge and information accessible to everyone, reinforcing the idea that with this capability comes a civic responsibility. He argues that if society fails to leverage technology to disseminate information from research libraries to all individuals, we are neglecting our duty to promote informed citizenship and equal access to knowledge.
Themes
TechnologyAccessibilityKnowledgeCivic DutyInformation
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about digital libraries, I might quote this to stress the importance of access to research.
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