We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.

Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]

The digitization of a million books

This news in from my alma mater, CMU, on the NSF Million Books Project:

The NSF’s Information Technology Research Program has also awarded a $3 million, three-year grant to the Million Books Project to support digitization of core academic materials, technical reports, government documents and cultural treasures.

I made the prediction to friends in 1980 that by 2010 one would be able to sit on a beach in the South Pacific and access any reference work or data on Earth, whether it be 15th century bills of laiding from the Library of Lisbon or the contents of the Library of Congress.

I think we’re still on schedule.

4 comments to The digitization of a million books

  • Paul Marks

    I hope you are correct.

    Paul Marks.

  • Walter E. Wallis

    I only hope that the next big thing in storage is compatible with the allready stored stuff. I have several dozen backup tapes that I can not read.

  • Dale Amon

    The Gutenberg Project is marvelous, but is text based and only books old enough to predate the current every lengthening copyright period.

    I think this project is about full digitization, something more of value to the archivist. If you want to know more, you’ll have to google it, ’cause what you see is what I know.