Re:Temporary National Emergency Library to close 2 weeks early
by oska on Monday June 15, 2020 @06:12AM
(#23525740)
Arguments from analogy can be useful to infer some possible further similarity. So as a creative, inductive process.
But using an argument from analogy to say why something can't or shouldn't be done is yes, as you say, problematic, because it's 1) usually easy to pick apart the analogy but also because 2) it's intellectually dubious and lacking in rigour.
In this case, copying a book has cost and reduces quality, are not related to the point of the analogy, even though they differ from digital copys.
Given your last paragraph, it seems that the you and the original comment disagree on what a library is.
In the end, like in your second paragraph, it doesn't really matter what we currently think a library is and what we want to make of it. And that's an important discussion.