The BiblioTech Digital Library - San Antonio, Texas
In August, the first book-less public library is going to open in San Antonio's Bexar county. According to ABC News, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff, who was inspired to pursue the project after reading Walter Issacson's Steve Jobs biography (a glance at the photo shows that it's inspired by Apple in more ways than one), said that the 4,989 square-foot space will look like a modern library. But instead of aisles and aisles of books there will be aisles and aisles of computers and gadgets.
According to goodEreader's interview with Laura Cole, Special Projects Coordinator of BiblioTech, because this library is the first tangible location that will feature intangible content, "There has been no precedent or case studies that have ever been done for this type of location and it has been a challenging task to plan out." When it opens, the BiblioTech Digital Library will feature 48 computers, 300 e-readers, and three Discovery Terminals via 3M.
The Digital Public Library of America - Online
In April, The Digital Public Library of America was launched. Author Doron Weber describes it by saying that it’s “as if the Ancient Library of Alexandria had met the Modern World Wide Web and digitized America for the benefit of all (TIME.com)."
According to their web site,"The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) brings together the riches of America’s libraries, archives, and museums, and makes them freely available to the world. It strives to contain the full breadth of human expression, from the written word, to works of art and culture, to records of America’s heritage, to the efforts and data of science. The DPLA aims to expand this crucial realm of openly available materials, and make those riches more easily discovered and more widely usable and used.
The DPLA offers a single point of access to millions of items—photographs, manuscripts, books, sounds, moving images, and more—from libraries, archives, and museums around the United States. Users can browse and search the DPLA’s collections by timeline, map, format, and topic; save items to customized lists; and share their lists with others. Users can also explore digital exhibitions curated by the DPLA’s content partners and staff."
