Tom Waits Fan Forums

I hadn't had a reason to visit the Library in a while. But now that I know it's gone, I want to see it again right NOW! Ain't that just human nature?

I think I have the whole thing backed up. I did it right when the announcement came out.

http://www.tomwaitsfan.com/tom%20waits%20library/www.tomwaitslibrary.com/index.html

Now what to do with it?

Sure, I can understand that, but why delete the entire site after all of that work? There was already a notice that it would not be updated, but taking it down completely seems strange, unless it was by request of The Powers That Be...

I'd be VERY surprised if any sort of "powers that be" were involved. I do have a little bit of experience with that sort of thing (running a TW radio show, bootleg FTP site, Youtube vids, etc.) and have talked to a Power That Is or two in my time. They have always been surprisingly friendly about this kind of stuff.

I've also "been there, done that" with the whole losing-interest-in-the-project side of it... it gets really old after a while and at some point you stop wanting to be a fan or talk to other fans because it's just too much work and people have so many expectations. I can totally understand having a new album coming out and people expecting you to have all the new lyrics up, a million interviews to keep track of and upload, it's a ton of work... and you've been doing it for so many years... at some point you just say "fuck that shit" and jettison the whole thing. It probably was a huge relief for him to can it... and he probably knew it was backed up elsewhere.

Well it does cost each month/year to keep a website hosted. Both hosting and domain name costs. Maybe he just let that lapse?
I never had any real contact with him directly, so I dont know what he would normally do.

Wise words Sarah.

Joshia am pretty sure it wasn't the money ...
He knew people would contribute

I just wish he'd say: go ahead
and maybe he doesn't care

just dunno

edit:I did post the question on the dutchdogs list just now, but it's pretty quiet over there ...

Still sad its gone but this is a lifesaver! Thanks JJ.

I assume most of the content was contributed by others? How much did he research and put together himself? Because if the former, I'd say he owns the "organization" of the content in a way, but the text itself seems less "his". Putting up a wiki with the same content, but organized in a different way seems like a fair thing to do since he basically threw up his hands and walked away. With proper credits, obviously. Others may feel differently.

Agree with Bourbon

Pieter did a very, very good job with credits. I suggest if you're putting together a wiki, you keep all of his credits and add some to credit him and the TWL as well. He put an enormous amount of work into the site, as did some of his frequent contributors...

Maybe you all don't realize how much is actually in there? Hundreds of transcribed interviews, just for starters. Almost 30,000 words' worth of anecdotes collected over the years from fans and acquaintances. A pretty much complete history of his performances since the early 70s, with accompanying scans of tickets, photos, articles, etc. Hundreds of photos, each credited with a source. Thoroughly annotated/footnoted lyrics for hundreds of songs, with multiple versions when applicable. It's not a simple thing he threw together and not something that should be dismissed as not really "his" just because other people worked with him extensively.

As long as we have the info somewhere safe I don't feel there's a huge rush to do this without permission. Surely someone can get in touch with him, many folks here and on Raindogs/Straydogs lists know him personally... (I've met him myself years ago, but don't have contact info for him now)

I realize the amount of work that went into the library was quite staggering, more than anything I am just by nature a fairly impatient person I am more just eager to get going than I am to tread on Pieter's toes. Whatever decision is reached I will be happy with as long as the info does not just get lost is all

I agree with Sarah. While I've never met Pieter personally I do remember him from the old Raindogs days and despite who ever contributed it was Pieter who kept it going. I can certainly understand getting tired of a very time consuming project and, who knows what is going on in his life right now. With that said I'm so glad that JJ had the foresight to back it up - way to go JJ!

Thank you so much JJ!

I agree with this, was going to post something similar yesterday. I've also been there and done that, and letting go was such a huge relief.

I'm so happy that JJ has the whole thing backed up. Very good news, mister!