One of the oldest libraries on the planet is digitizing its archive of ancient manuscripts — and they’re all available to view free of charge.
The Vatican Apostolic Library is undertaking an extensive digital preservation of its 82,000 document collection. Over the course of a few years, with the assistance of Japanese company NTT DATA, the library has catalogued nearly 4,500 manuscripts online — and it hopes to reach the 15,000 mark within the next four years.
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Medieval Book Historian Discovers 800-Year-Old Doodles
For the past few years, medieval book historian Erik Kwakkel has been poring over someof the world’s oldest books and manuscripts at Leiden University, The Netherlands, as part of his ongoing research on pen trials. Pen trials are small sketches, doodles, and practice strokes a medieval scribe would make while testing the ink flow of a pen or quill. They usually involve funny faces, letter strokes, random lines, or geometric shapes and generally appear in the back of the book where a few blank pages could be found.
Free Access to OUP
To celebrate National Library Week in the United States (April 13th-19th) and all the hard work librarians do to support their patrons, Oxford University Press is freeing up all of its online products for the week!
With origins dating back to 1478, Oxford University Press is mission-driven to make the best research and scholarship available to as many people as it can. OUP is one of the most respected history publishing programs in the world. Its authors are influential and innovative historians, whose award-winning work reflects and guides the direction of the field.
With origins dating back to 1478, Oxford University Press is mission-driven to make the best research and scholarship available to as many people as it can. OUP is one of the most respected history publishing programs in the world. Its authors are influential and innovative historians, whose award-winning work reflects and guides the direction of the field.
The British Library Digital Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts
The The British Library Digital Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts includes descriptions and images of western manuscripts with pictorial and decorative embellishments, from fully painted miniatures to decorated initials. Because it includes such a wide range of material, it serves as a useful resource for those working in a variety of disciplines.
Happy Tell a Fairy Tale Day!
In honor of this day, we present a wonderful Fractured Fairy Tale.
For the some of the originals go here and here. And for an off-beat take on their meanings, visit Cracked.
For the some of the originals go here and here. And for an off-beat take on their meanings, visit Cracked.
Jane Austen's The History of England: Introduction
View Jane Austen's The History of England: Introduction at the British Library's Online Gallery.
The History of England is an early work of Jane Austen. She completed the composition in November 1791 when she was just 15 years old.
Jane Austen's History is a lively parody which makes fun of the standard schoolroom books of the time, in particular Oliver Goldsmith's popular four-volume History of England from the Earliest Times to the Death of George II (1771). Declaring herself to be a 'partial, prejudiced and ignorant Historian' she cites works of fiction, such as Shakespeare's plays, as historial authority and includes references to her own family and friends. Jane's older sister Cassandra illustrated the text with imaginative portraits of the English monarchs.
Special Collections & Archives, University of Iowa
Rare books, artist's books, miniature books, zines, documents, oddities, and daily life from the University of Iowa Special Collections & University Archives.
Celebrate Banned Book Week, read a banned book!
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
The top 10 most frequently challenged books of 2011:
1) ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle – offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
2) The Colour of Earth (series), by Kim Dong Hwa – nudity, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
3) The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins – anti-ethnic, anti-family, insensitivity, offensive language, occult/satanic, violence
4) My Mom’s Having A Baby! A Kid’s Month-by-Month Guide to Pregnancy, by Dori Hillestad Butler – nudity, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
5) The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie – offensive language, racism, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
6) Alice (series), by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor – nudity, offensive language, religious viewpoint
7) Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley – insensitivity, nudity, racism, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit
8) What My Mother Doesn’t Know, by Sonya Sones – nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit
9) Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily Von Ziegesar – drugs, offensive language, sexually explicit
10) To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee – offensive language, racism
Look at this list to see the most frequently challenged books for the last 10 years. For more information on banned books, intellectual freedom, and the First Amendment, check out the American Library Associations Banned Books' site.
1) ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle – offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
2) The Colour of Earth (series), by Kim Dong Hwa – nudity, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
3) The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins – anti-ethnic, anti-family, insensitivity, offensive language, occult/satanic, violence
4) My Mom’s Having A Baby! A Kid’s Month-by-Month Guide to Pregnancy, by Dori Hillestad Butler – nudity, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
6) Alice (series), by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor – nudity, offensive language, religious viewpoint
7) Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley – insensitivity, nudity, racism, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit
8) What My Mother Doesn’t Know, by Sonya Sones – nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit
9) Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily Von Ziegesar – drugs, offensive language, sexually explicit
10) To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee – offensive language, racism
Look at this list to see the most frequently challenged books for the last 10 years. For more information on banned books, intellectual freedom, and the First Amendment, check out the American Library Associations Banned Books' site.
ebrary books on a portable device
ebrary now offers the following two download options for offline access to ebrary content:
- Create an image PDF of a specific chapter or page range
Learn more: http://support.ebrary.com/?p=655- Same page limits as for printing.
- Accessible on most computers and devices, including the Kindle.
- Additional (free) software is typically not needed.
- Files do not expire.
- Download an entire document as an e-book in Adobe Digital Editions
Learn more: http://support.ebrary.com/?p=687- Patrons first need to install Adobe Digital Editions (free online).
- Accessible on most computers and devices, but not the Kindle.
- Up to 10 documents at a time per patron.
- By default, full-document downloading is only available for multi-user documents (not single-user-only documents), but admins can override this setting.
- Multi-user documents can be full-document downloaded for 14 days*.
- If allowed, single-user-only documents can be full-document downloaded for 7 days*.
- Some publishers prohibit full-document downloading of their documents. See here for a list: http://support.ebrary.com/?p=868
The Kindle Fire has different directions.
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