Library Ireland Week 2010

Knowledge is of two kinds: we know a subject ourselves,
or we know where we can find information upon it.
— Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

Digital library project... access millions of resources for free!
Arts and Humanities Data Service
http://ahds.ac.uk/
AHDS is a UK based project that collects, preserves and promotes the electronic resources in the arts and humanities (history, archaeology, literature, language and linguistics, performing arts, visual arts).
You can access resources such as electronic texts, databases, images, and mixed media resources. It also provides you with information about similar resources which are located and managed elsewhere.


Libraries around the world (by A. Finegan)
Thursday 11th March 2010

The British Library (London)
http://www.bl.uk
The British Library (BL) is the national library of the United Kingdom. The library is one of the world's largest research libraries, holding over 150 million items in all known languages and formats. There is a huge number of free online resources available, such as over two million pages from British newspapers, e-books, digitised manuscripts and rare books, audio recordings and interviews, and a classical music collection. Readers can examine every page of rare historic works, compare different editions side-by-side, choose standard or magnified view and read supporting material created by the library’s curators and other experts. Digitised works currently available include original copies of the works of Shakespeare and Chaucer, the Gutenberg Bible and the Magna Carta.
For more, check the British Library’s Online Gallery at: http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/index.html


The Royal Library of San Lorenzo de El Escorial (Real Biblioteca de San Lorenzo de El Escorial) (Madrid)
http://www.sanlorenzoescorial.com/monasterio/biblioteca.htm
The library at the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial lies northwest of Madrid. Its construction was begun in 1563, on the orders of Felipe II, to commemorate the Spanish victory over the French at St. Quentin in 1557. In 1984, UNESCO declared the monastery a Monument of Worldwide Interest.
Apart from its great beauty, the library of the Escorial is also renowned for the size and quality of its collection of codices and incunabula. The library has an extremely rich collection, which includes Arab and Hebrew manuscripts, and the personal library of King Felipe II, with some treasures such as Alfonso X’s Cantigas de Santa María, the Book of Hours of the Catholic monarchs, Santa Teresa’s manuscripts and diary, the gold-scrolled Aureus Codex (1039), and an 11th century Commentary on the Apocalypse by Beato de Liébana.