Tuesday, March 06, 2007

open source history

I am stunned and awed by the Columbia University (interactive digital) Scriptorium. Often a fancy name will cover a bunch of junk, but this site is totally amazing. Here are high resolution images of ancient manuscripts that once were hidden away in dark vaults never to be seen by ordinary people. The originals are so delicate that they spend their time in climate controlled rooms in sealed boxes. Only curators and serious researchers are allowed to see them. Hardly anyone gets to touch them. A great waste of a resource. But now, through the magic of the internet, anyone can see these items up close. Maybe I'm easy to amaze but I get chills getting up close to medieval pages (even if they are just images).

Here's another great site for ancient manuscripts: Heidelberg University Library (in German).

If you like free learning, then try the Columbia University interactive tools (where I found the Scriptorium). Take a virtual tour of the Alhambra or New York Church of St. John the Divine. There are tons of other fabulous learning experiences that once used to cost too much money all for free. And with no registration or other tracking crap. Play on!

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