“Capturing the unruly, ever-changing Internet is like trying to pin down a raging river. But the British Library is going to try. For centuries the library has kept a copy of every book, pamphlet, magazine and newspaper published in Britain. Now it will also record every British website, e-book, online newsletter and blog, in a bid to preserve the nation’s “digital memory.” (via The Associated Press)
“The British Library and Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF) have unveiled an ambitious partnership to transform people’s understanding of the history of the Middle East, and the region’s relationship with Britain and the rest of the world. The £8.7 million project was announced this morning at the British Library’s flagship building in St Pancras, London. Its plans will digitise more than 500,000 pages from the archives of the East India Company and India Office, in addition to 25,000 pages of medieval Arabic manuscripts – all of which will be made freely available online for the first time.”British Library
British Library – “The Listening Project will invite people across the UK to share an intimate conversation. Some of these conversations will be broadcast by the BBC and curated and archived by the British Library building a unique picture of our lives today and preserving it for future generations. What people talk about is their choice. It could be a moment of joy, sadness or reflection. This project is about creating the space for people to have that conversation they always meant to have.”
AP – “The newspaper coverage was troubling: London’s huge international showcase was beset by planning problems, local opposition and labor woes – and the transport was a mess. It sounds like the 2012 Olympics, but this was the Great Exhibition of 1851 generating stories of late trains, unscrupulous landlords and dangerous overcrowding.”
BBC – “The British Library is making digital copies of more than 40,000 classic books available for the iPad. Texts appear in fully digitised form, complete with original page markings and drawings, as opposed to the plain formatting associated with other types of e-books. All of the works date from the 18th and 19th centuries and include novels, poetry and historical accounts. Users must pay a monthly subscription of £1.99 to access the full collection.”
Reuters – “The British Library has launched an appeal to help it buy the oldest book in Europe, an “almost miraculous” survival from the Anglo Saxon period over 1,000 years ago. The small volume was buried with one of England’s most popular saints, Saint Cuthbert at a time when the country was being swept by continental invasions following the departure of the Romans, and despite its age is still in perfect condition with its original leather cover.”
NYT – “Visitors to the British Library have a new tool to help guide them: a mobile app that highlights more than 100 works from its collections. Included are portions of the Codex Sinaiticus, a handwritten manuscript of the Christian Bible written in the middle of the fourth century; Galileo’s letters; Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks; the original version of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” and Jane Austen’s teenage writings.”
Retuers – “Rare cartographic gems mapping the world from 200 B.C. to the present go on display at the British Library in London. “Magnificent Maps: Power, Propaganda and Art,” showcases some of the finest wall-maps in the British Library’s 4.5 million-strong collection, in an exhibition which encourages visitors to question the nature and purpose of maps.”
British Library – “16 of Europe’s top Libraries, Archives, Universities and Technology Institutions collaborate to map the ‘Digital Genome’ – preserving the electronic building blocks required to unlock our digital heritage. Over the last decade the digital age has seen an explosion in the rate of data creation.Estimates from 2009 suggest that over 100 GB of data has already been created for every single individual on the planet ranging from holiday snaps to health records – that’s over 1 trillion CDs worth of data, equivalent to 24 tons of books per person!”
AP – “The British Library said Wednesday it was digitizing up to 40 million pages of newspapers, including fragile dailies dating back three and a half centuries. Once digitized, the British newspapers documenting local, regional and national life spanning to the 1700s will be fully searchable and accessible online, the national library said.”
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