Slashdot Mirror
Carnegie Mellon's Digital Library Exceeds 1.5 Million Books
cashman73 writes "Most Slashdot readers are probably familiar with Google's book scanning project, a collaboration with several major universities to digitize works of literature, art, and science. But Google may have been beat to the punch this time -- about a decade ago, Carnegie Mellon University embarked on a project to scan books into digital format, to be made available online. Today, according to new reports, they now have a collection of 1.5 million books, the equivalent of a typical university library, available online."
The definition of a Library is just changing. When you look at a small Internet cafe what you are really seeing is the modern version of a Library that also caters for those who wish for some refreshments. If the old Dickensian hard copy libraries want to survive they will have to become more communal and socially active. Yes, that means having network access and a place for young people to talk. While you have them captive you can promote books with posters on the walls and seminars and social events. Its time Libraries stopped hiding behind dusty books and started becoming a public social space were people can exchange ideas, you know what Libraries were originally way back in the ancient Egyptian days of the great library of Alexandria.