Announcing the Open Library!
Announcing The Open Library!
What if there was a library which held every book? Not every book on sale, or every important book, or even every book in English, but simply every book—our planet’s cultural legacy.
First, the library must be on the Internet. No physical space could be as big or as universally accessible as a public web site. The site would be like Wikipedia—a public resource that anyone in any country could access and that others could rework into different formats.
Second, it must be grandly comprehensive. It would take catalog entries from every library and publisher and random Internet user who is willing to donate them. It would link to places where each book could be bought, borrowed, or downloaded. It would collect reviews and references and discussions and every other piece of data about the book it could get its hands on.
But most importantly, such a library must be fully open. Not simply “free to the people,” as the grand banner across the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh proclaims, but a product of the people: letting them create and curate its catalog, contribute to its content, participate in its governance, and have full, free access to its data. In an era where library data and Internet databases are being run by money-seeking companies behind closed doors, it’s more important than ever to be open.
So let us do just that: let us build the Open Library.
I thought of the smartest programmers and designers I knew and gave them a ring, sat down for coffee with them, threatened to fly out to their homes and knock on their doors. In the end, we got together an amazing group of people — all sworn to secrecy of course — and in the past few months we’ve put together what’s probably the biggest project I ever worked on.
So today I’m extraordinarily proud to announce the Open Library project. Our goal is to build the world’s greatest library, then put it up on the Internet free for all to use and edit. Books are the place you go when you have something you want to share with the world — our planet’s cultural legacy. And never has there been a bigger attempt to bring them all together.
Congrats Aaron and team!
This is highly weird. In April 2006, a 
bobslobster, 
is a neat little book filled with lots of ways to cut up and turn all those random tshirts you have lying in the nether corners of your dresser into something more interesting (since i go to lots of random nerdy tech events – i’ve got lots of random techy tshirts that definitely need some modifying) 
I recently read 
. It’s the kind of book that makes me want to learn about all the deities. If only my math books were this gorgeous when I was in school, I’d be a genius (okay, maybe not…nonetheless, i wish all books were this beautiful). I remember meeting the author at 
and there’s gonna be a party to celebrate (at 
Tonight the San Francisco Center for the Book is presenting 
Tom is discussing. 
speakitiki 8:10 pm on August 14, 2007 Permalink |
I understand these books are great. I’ll be checking them out soon for sure. Tiki Style by Sven A. Kirsten is excellent too. It even has a Tiki Gardens listed in it… a place I remember as a kid growing up in Florida. Heritage Village in Largo, FL has a remake of the Tiki that once stood in the entrance along with some history on the attraction. It’s now a parking lot by the same name :(
A Tiki Road trip would be great!