The Abbey Library of St. Gallen --the oldest library in Switzerland-- has created a free online digital library, Codices Electronici Sangallenses. Currently it contains high-res digital copies of 144 manuscripts (57,500+ pages) and plans to add many more from its collection dating back to the 8th century. (Thanks to Donat Agosti.)
Comment. The digital library limits access to those who accept its terms of use. The terms exclude commercial use and require non-commercial users to cite or link to the source. Most importantly, the terms include the catch-all exception, "We reserve the right to refuse the use of our content in particular cases." Since the 19th century, the library has been owned by the Canton of St. Gallen, not the Catholic Church, and it appears that Swiss taxpayers have paid all the costs of digitizing these public-domain manuscripts. St. Gallen should remove the permission barriers and make the files OA.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 6/06/2007 09:22:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
