British Library to put George III's map collection online | Hacker News Reader

British Library to put George III's map collection online

theartnewspaper.com

59 pointsAmanjeev7 comments

Finally a competition for google maps! Is that why this is on front page?

I used to sigh every time I saw "British Library" headlines, as they usually found some stupid way to wrap everything in icky Microsoft technologies long after they became unnecessary encumbrances on web sites.

There's not enough detail in the article to see if they've grown out of that phase, but it would still suprise me if they actually made these bits of "cultural history" freely available in a straightforward way.

In recent years, the BL have worked closely with Wikipedians to share media under free/ open licences, including over a million images on Flickr Commons, and releasing audio recordings of birds, to which they own the copyright. I've worked with them on both projects. They also employed a Wikipedian in Residence for a year, and generously hosted a Wikipedia conference and other Wikipedia events.

Surely there's no copyright in birdsong recordings (taken individually at least). There is no creative input from the recorder.

The maps are from the 1600's, yet in the article's main photo, it clearly shows both library officials and visitors touching it with their bare (oily, and slightly acidic) hands.

There's a reason historical documents and old paintings are usually handled with gloves on...

I've seen many cases of old documents not being handled with gloves. Apparently it is accepted by some as a myth that it protects the documents:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/booked/2012/03/21/the-white-glov...

> In general we do not use or provide white gloves for use with collection items. Clean dry hands, free from creams and lotions, are preferable in the majority of circumstances. Wearing cotton gloves when handling books, manuscripts or fragile paper items reduces manual dexterity and the sense of touch, increasing the tendency to 'grab' at items. The cotton fibres may lift or dislodge pigments and inks from the surface of pages and the textile can snag on page edges making them difficult to turn. All these factors increase the risk of damage to collection items.

http://www.bl.uk/aboutus/stratpolprog/collectioncare/publica...

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