When I was 20 I fell in love with this photograph. The subject is poet Charles Baudelaire and the photographer is Felix Nadar. The original photograph is owned by the musee d'Orsey in Paris. It was copied here without permission, for which I will probably get in trouble. But when I have the money, I'm going to the musee d'Orsey just to see this photo. I want to see it in the flesh. When I first saw it I realized that it represented so perfectly my idea of passion and madness and poetry and writing. Nadar captures it beautifully.
I mention this photograph because it is a perfect lead into what has to be the most exciting library news I've had in a long time. (yes there is exciting library news). A virtual European online library has been created. And it is currently beta testing. I read the BBC each morning and they mentioned that the site was having problems keeping up with users. So of course I had to add to the strain. http://www.europeana.eu/ for anyone interested.
This is currently a 2 million plus volume virtual library that contains some of the greatest treasures of Europe, including the photo displayed above. There are history museum that have contributed. Art museums that have digitalized photos and paintings. Libraries that have digitalized hundreds of thousands of books. Archives that have opened their doors virtually. For a librarian, this is as close to heaven as it gets. The National Libraries of almost all European nations have opened their doors to this project. The goal is to digitize 10 million items for the public to access from anywhere in the world.
The site has been up and running since November 20th. The project is run out of the National Library of the Netherlands. Virtual libraries are an increasing phenomenon and with good reason. So many people are turning to the internet to get information. They might as well make it good information. For an archivist this is a chance to get delicate works out there for use, while still maintaining the integrity of the original. Speaking for librarians, the goal of a book or artwork is to be used. This allows use from anywhere across the world. Geography is no longer a constraint to access to information. We have gone from closed privileged libraries, where books were literally chained to the shelves, to this virtual library where anyone, anywhere can access any information they need. Let's hope it gets used and gets increased funding. As for me, I'm in heaven.
(Sorry about the frequent postings but the office is slow today and this was just too good to pass up.)
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