60 minutes and vatican library

wil

wil

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a figment of your imagination
they just did a fluff piece on the vatican library...

60 Minutes Video - A visit to the Vatican Library - CBS.com

it drove me crazy....

They showed who had the right to go in....and everyone seen handliing any book had no gloves on, was just turning pages.

If they would allow google or yahoo or anyone in to digitize their 2 million books....they be handled ONCE and could be studied by ANYBODY.

As it is from what we saw, they are not conserving these books, one person after another is simply going in, pulling them off the shelves, and turning pages...

Any researcher in there would go back and forth probably ten times to review something.....vs ONCE...it makes no sense.
 
wil said:
They showed who had the right to go in ... .and everyone seen handling any book had no gloves on, was just turning pages.
Click to expand...
I'm amazed at the number of times I've seen this, at all manner of institutions ... even brand new materials, if they're being kept for posterity, should be handled with gloves.

wil said:
If they would allow google or yahoo or anyone in to digitize their 2 million books....they be handled ONCE and could be studied by ANYBODY.
Click to expand...
But who would want to study them?

And who would pay for the digitization?

There is also an issue with insurances. I often work with materials from the British Library, but the library supplies files of the images I need, they don't release their stuff for third parties to work with.

I really doubt Google or Yahoo or anyone else would be interested in stumping up the money or meeting the conditions ... what's the actual demand?

Scholars can get access, who else would want it? All institutional libraries operate the same way, the Vatican is no different in that regard.

God bless,

Thomas
 
wil said:
There have been a number of offers over the years for library to be digiitized....for free...with gloves... all refused.
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Can I ask by whom?

From wiki and the vatican website:
At the beginning of the 1950’s, most of the manuscripts were microfilmed. The microfilms are housed at the Pius XII Memorial Library in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1981, the association American Friends of the Vatican Library was founded to stimulate international interest and support for the institution; the association supports the Library by financing scientific publications and other projects.
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These microfiches are available ... I wonder how many people have sought to access them?

God bless,

Thomas
 
Thomas said:
Can I ask by whom?

From wiki and the vatican website:

These microfiches are available ... I wonder how many people have sought to access them?

God bless,

Thomas
Click to expand...
Micro fiches in st louis is much different than web access...and it will change things...look at wikipedia, when it is opened to millions it will be amazing vs. having to fly someplace and sit someplace to study... like working on the human genome, the process of dissemination and interpretation would fly...

However it looks now like some work is supposed to be happening...

The Vatican Library Reopens its Doors

http://www.english.illinois.edu/-people-/faculty/debaron/582/582 readings/grafton.pdf

Vatican Press and Library and Association of Researchers. :: Catholic Historical Review :: July 2010 -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia
 
Hi Wil —
wil said:
...look at wikipedia,
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I think that's a negative and probably why the Vatican would absolutely refuse to allow it. Wikipedia is not reliable at all, it's a prime example of what happens when anybody is allowed to post anything. My daughter's college-mates fabricated an elaborate disease on wiki, according to the symptoms of a hypochondriac friend of theirs ...
... even I have posted erroneous info to wiki (by error — I was told something from the horses' mouth, then the horse told me something else, later on ...)

I still fail to see who all these interested parties are, or where they come from — a sound knowledge of long-dead languages for one. I don't think there's that many out there.

There is shedloads of material available, which no-one accesses. Why would the Vatican Library be any different, unless you're looking for some Vatican evidence of a gunman on the grassy knoll ... ?

God bless,

Thomas
 
All ancient manuscripts should be treated in a scientific method that best protects the pages from deteriorating.

Human fingers without gloves, human breath, sneezing, and coughing could speed the decay of these works.

They should be stored in a temperature and moisture controlled environment. Experts could take digital pictures of each page and commit them to a separate library for public viewing.

Amergin
 
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