"When I look at books, I see an outdated technology, like scrolls before books," said James Tracy, headmaster of Cushing and chief promoter of the bookless campus. Instead of a library, the academy is spending nearly $500,000 to create a learning center. Where the reference desk was, they are building a $50,000 coffee shop that will include a $12,000 cappuccino machine.
posted by tamarack on Sep 4, 2009 - 129 comments

The Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles has been building a remarkable digital library of documents and articles related to the history of sport and athletic competition. Among the documents currently available are the Official Olympic Reports from all modern Olympic Games through 2002 and back issues from the Journal of Sport History (1974-2002), Baseball Magazine (1909-1918), and the journal Outing (1883-1903), among others. Use the search function to search across all articles.
posted by arco on May 18, 2007 - 2 comments

The Online Archive of California brings together historical materials from a variety of state institutions, including museums, historical societies, and archives. These materials include letters, legal documents, manuscripts, works of art, diaries, and historical photographs. Thousands of photographs.

From just the Bancroft Library at Berkeley: Artistic homes, 1887-1890, agricultural laborers, 1906-1911, the San Francisco earthquake and fire, construction of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Quentin Prison, and war relocation camps. And that's barely scratching the surface.
posted by Gamblor on Oct 17, 2005 - 5 comments

The British Library is putting online 93 high-resolution digitised copies of 21 of Shakespeare's plays. They include many lines and passages that are different from those found in the First Folio editions, which were not printed until after Shakespeare's death. BBC article.
posted by stbalbach on Sep 10, 2004 - 9 comments

Celtic Digital Library.
posted by hama7 on Apr 30, 2004 - 3 comments

"The Bookmobile [Internet Archive version] is a rolling digital library capable of downloading public domain books from the Internet via satellite and printing them anytime, anywhere, for anyone. Just as the bookmobiles of the past brought wonderful books to people in towns across America, this century's bookmobile will bring an entire digital library to their grandchildren."
This, then, is the sharp end of the Copyright extension argument currently before your Supreme Court in Eldred v. Ashcroft, [as blogged by all & sundry] [More inside...]
posted by dash_slot- on Oct 10, 2002 - 7 comments

The Martians are coming! ... and I feel fine!
posted by geronimo_rex on Nov 28, 2001 - 7 comments