
British Library to put George III's map collection online - Amanjeev
http://theartnewspaper.com/news/conservation/british-library-to-put-one-very-big-atlas-online/
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selvans
Finally a competition for google maps! Is that why this is on front page?

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ZeroGravitas
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.

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pigsonthewing
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.

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

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Alupis
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There's a reason historical documents and old paintings are usually handled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...

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btbuilder
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...](http://www.forbes.com/sites/booked/2012/03/21/the-white-glove-myth/)

