Spirituality

82,000 Vatican manuscripts to go online

By T.K. Randall
May 12, 2013 ·  9 comments

Image Credit: Enrique Cornejo The Vatican's library is packed full of historical texts and literary treasures dating back hundreds of years. The process of scanning more than 40 million pages however is no easy task thanks to bindings that disintegrate when opened and gold or silver illuminations that are particularly awkward to scan. "It is important to realize if there is gold or silver in a manuscript," said project leader Luciano Ammenti. "That requires a very particular process because the light will be different."

The effort to digitize the massive collection will ensure that the Vatican's library is preserved for future generations with an estimated requirement of more than 43 petabytes of storage. "This is our dream, to give all the world access to our manuscripts," said Ammenti. "We start with the most delicate, the books that are in a critical situation for conservation."[!gad]The Vatican's library is packed full of historical texts and literary treasures dating back hundreds of years. The process of scanning more than 40 million pages however is no easy task thanks to bindings that disintegrate when opened and gold or silver illuminations that are particularly awkward to scan. "It is important to realize if there is gold or silver in a manuscript," said project leader Luciano Ammenti. "That requires a very particular process because the light will be different."

The effort to digitize the massive collection will ensure that the Vatican's library is preserved for future generations with an estimated requirement of more than 43 petabytes of storage. "This is our dream, to give all the world access to our manuscripts," said Ammenti. "We start with the most delicate, the books that are in a critical situation for conservation."

Source: The Star | Comments (9)

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