Véro Milot
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Within three months, anyone who has access to the Internet will be able to consult at anytime a large collection of rare books, some dating back 500 years. The books will be available by accessing the library network Web site (www.biblio.uottawa.ca) or the archives Web site (www.archive.org).
This initiative will greatly improve access to this documentation source, explains Tony Horava, coordinator of collections and information resources at the University of Ottawa.
“The creation of a virtual archives centre will eliminate many physical constraints associated with consulting archival documents,” says Horava. “The 500 or so rare books being digitized will not only be available on the Internet all the time, but users will be able to print the works in their entirety.”
The rare books chosen to be digitalized were favourites chosen by professors from various departments. It is not surprising therefore, to find a variety of subjects: history, lettres françaises, music, history of medicine, jurisprudence and nursing.
Among the works, one can find de Secondat’s (1689-1755) The Spirit of Laws, Grove’s (1820-1900) A Dictionary of Music and Musicians and Pemberton’s (1694-1771) View of Sir Isaac Newton’s Philosophy. An important twentieth century periodical on nursing will also be digitized in its entirety.
The machine used by the University of Toronto to digitize the rare books is the only one of its kind in Canada, and there are only a handful of them in the world. Mr. Horava believes that changing with the times along with other participating international universities – ten to be exact – is in keeping with one of the University of Ottawa’s mandates: to explore the potential of new technologies for the benefit of students and the larger community.
“This is only the start of a colossal undertaking that will revolutionize the way we consult historical documents. It is an important step, not only to expand our access to knowledge, but also to better prepare for the future.”
