Bodleian Library Gets Image Search
August 3, 2015
There is a lot of free information on the Internet, but the veracity is always in question. While libraries are still the gateway of knowledge, many of their rarer, more historic works are buried in archives. These collections offer a wealth of information that is often very interesting. The biggest problem is that libraries often lack the funds to scan archival collections and create a digital library. Oxford University’s Bodleian Library, one of the oldest libraries in Europe, has the benefit of funds and an excellent collection to share with the world.
Digital Bodleian boasts over 115,179 images as of writing this article, stating that it is constantly updating the collection. The online library takes a modern approach to how users interact with the images by taking tips from social media. Not only can users browse and search the images randomly or in the pre-sorted collections, they can also create their own custom libraries and sharing the libraries with friends.
It is a bold move for a library, especially for one as renowned as Bodleian, to embrace a digital collection as well as offering a social media-like service. In my experience, digital library collections are bogged down by copyright, incomplete indices or ontologies, and they lack images to perk a users’ interest. Digital Bodleian is the opposite of many of its sister archives, but another thing I have noticed is that users are not too keen on joining a library social media site. It means having to sign up for yet another service and also their friends probably aren’t on it.
Here is an idea, how about a historical social media site similar to Pinterest that pulls records from official library archives? It would offer the ability to see the actual items, verify information, and even yield those clickbait top ten lists.
Whitney Grace, August 3, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
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