British Library goes Google!

Google (specifically Google Books) has been joining forces with libraries around the world to digitise documents from the past, then making them available to the internet trawling public free of charge!

At the moment, approximately 40 libraries have agreed to take part. While that's exciting in and of itself - I'm particularly thrilled to hear about the most recently announced member of the team.  

The British Library - which holds a humongous collection of over 150 million items - will be digitising some 250000 documents from the 1700 - 1870 era.
It has been announced that a pamphlet about Marie Antoinette will be one of the first works to go online, alongside the 1858 plans by Spanish Inventor Narcis Monturiol for a submarine!

Apparently this will take some time, so nothing's available just yet, but I'll keep you posted. Google will be carrying the cost of the digitisation.

The Chief Executive of the library - Damy Lynne Brindley - sees this scheme as an extension of the original ambitions of the predecessor to the library in the 19th century - which was to make knowledge available to the masses. 

 The British Library collection contains books, journals, newspapers, magazines, stamps, sound & music recordings, patents, databases prints, photographs, drawings and manuscripts, amongst others. If this digitisation goes well, it could lead to other periods of history being similarly covered.

We're very fortunate here in Yorkshire to have one of the BL depot's at Boston Spa, but I for one relish the thought of being able to access these texts from my living room, with a nice cup of coffee, maybe some music on in the background...

This fits in nicely with Google Books stated goal of digitising every unique book by the end of the decade. Don't worry, that's only 129,864,880 books (according to wikipedia), with about 15 million already scanned!

Most of these are books that were out of print, or no longer commercially available. As noted in previous posts, Google Books have been criticised previously for operating a little fast and loose with regards to copyright infringement - particularly in the United States. It would appear that they have switched their focus - for the time being anyway - to older works.

Boston Spa - ain't it pretty?

 If you want an idea of what this *might* look like, check out The Complete Works of Charles Darwin Online. OK, so it's a tenuous link, but it's a great website, and a wonderful way of making these works accessible!

"The way of doing it then was to buy books from the entire world and to make them available in reading rooms.

"We... believe that we are building on this proud tradition of giving access to anyone, anywhere and at any time.
"Our aim is to provide perpetual access to this historical material, and we hope that our collections coupled with Google's know-how will enable us to achieve this aim."

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Libraries Table of Contents

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Full Table of Contents 

Happy Summer Solstice!

So it's the longest day of the year.


Would a teeny bit of sunshine be too much to ask for!!!

To skim or not to skim...

Skim Reading - as defined by wikipedia. It might not be the most accurate 'pedia on the web, but it's most people's first port of call.

Skimming is a process of speed reading that involves visually searching the sentences of a page for clues to meaning. For some people, this comes naturally, and usually may not be acquired by practice. Skimming is usually seen more in adults than in children. It is conducted at a higher rate (700 words per minute and above) than normal reading for comprehension (around 200-230 wpm), and results in lower comprehension rates, especially with information-rich reading material.

Another form of skimming is that commonly employed by readers on the Web. This involves skipping over text that is less interesting or relevant. This form of reading is not new but has become increasingly prevalent due to the ease with which alternative information can be accessed online. Some of the sentences have minor information that might not be required.

So, a friend of mine recently 'read' three Jane Austen books in under three days. 

I was pretty impressed. I mean, I have a bit of speed reader reputation (totally undeserved - I just love/live to read and set aside time most people use for sleeping and eating!), but there is no way I could get through Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion in one sitting each.

The longer we spoke however, the more disquieted I became. My friend had somehow missed that Marianne and Elinor had a sister in Sense and Sensibility. She read Pride and Prejudice and didn't realise that 'Aunt' Gardiner was a family member, or that Wickham had grown up with the Darcy family. Persuasion was a 'soft love story', with no acknowledgement of the anguish or journey the principle characters went through.

My friend disregarded my concerns. She saw these details as...well, just details, and not necessary to her enjoyment of the stories. Course I then had to point out that she hadn't actually enjoyed the books, she thought that they were over-rated and 'chick lit - olden day stylee'. She's totally entitled to think that. No one has to like books just because I do. However, writing off an author and their books without having actually taken the time to read them properly really irritated me.

See, there is totally a place for skim reading. In my head, it's ideal for text books - finding that vital passage, seeking out one particular note amongst many others - or for books and pieces that you've already read in detail and are looking for a quick refresher.

For fiction though - I'm not sure it's the most appropriate approach to take. To appreciate a book, to really get the most out of it - I think that you need to be willing to sacrifice a little bit of time to it. Books are usually more nuanced and subtle then a skim read will allow. 

My mate is unlikely to read these Austen books again. They aren't her thing, and it's up to her whether or not she decides to give them another go. A few days after our chat though she did call me up and say that she was about to tackle Jane Eyre. She promised NOT to discuss it with me if she skims through it though, laughing that I take the whole reading thing waaaaay too seriously. 

Maybe she's right.

Though I can't say I see anything wrong with that!

See you later alligator...

See you later, alligator.

Bye-bye, butterfly. 

Not too soon, you big baboon.
In a while, crocodile.

Out the door, dinosaur.
Give a hug, ladybug.
Take care, polar bear.
See you soon, raccoon.

To your house, little mouse.
In a blizzard, little lizard.
In a shake, garter snake.
Time to scoot, warty newt.

Don't meander, salamander.
Hit the road, hoppy toad.
Be sweet, parakeet.
See you soon, raccoon.

Stay well, gazelle
Not now brown cow
'Till then penguin
To your house, mouse

Manana Iguana
Take care, polar bear.
Give a kiss, jellyfish,
Take a bow, brown cow

So long, King Kong.
Toodle-oo, kangaroo.  
See you soon raccoon.
Toodaloo kangaroo.

In a line, porcupine.
To the bus octopus.
Just a word mocking bird.