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Cambridge University 'digital library for world' plan

BBC Published Jun 4, 2010 Reviewed Jul 2, 2026 ✓ Reviewed by citations.press editors
Cambridge University 'digital library for world' plan
Cambridge University Library has a collection of more than seven million books that it plans to make available online.
more than 7 books · books Cambridge University Library, library
Dr Leonard Polonsky pledged £1.5 million to fund the first stage of the digital library project.
1.5 million pounds · pledge Dr Leonard Polonsky, founder of the Polonsky-Coexist Lectureship in Jewish Studies
The library holds 193,000 fragments of the Jewish Taylor-Schechter Genizah Collection.
193000 fragments · fragments Cambridge University Library, library
Cambridge University Library aims to become a 'digital library for the world' by putting its collection of more than seven million books online.
more than 7000000 books · Cambridge University Library collection
£1.5 million has been pledged to fund the infrastructure for the first stage of Cambridge University Library's digitisation project.
1500000 GBP · infrastructure funding for digitisation project
The digitisation project will begin with two collections: The Foundations of Faith and The Foundations of Science.
2 collections · first digitised collections
Cambridge University Library holds the Jewish Taylor-Schechter Genizah Collection, comprising 193,000 fragments of manuscripts.
193000 fragments · Taylor-Schechter Genizah Collection
Cambridge University Library holds an eighth-century copy of Surat al-Anfal, the eighth chapter of the Qur'an.
8 century · copy of Surat al-Anfal
Dr Leonard Polonsky, founder of the Polonsky-Coexist Lectureship in Jewish Studies at Cambridge University, pledged £1.5 million for the digitisation project.
1500000 GBP · funding for digitisation project
The library will digitise an eighth-century copy of Surat al-Anfal, the eighth chapter of the Qur'an.
8 chapter · chapter8 century · copy Cambridge University Library, library
The library will digitise the worlds of Mediterranean Jewish, Muslim and Christian communities of the 11th Century.
11 century · communities Anne Jarvis, librarian
The digitisation project could expand to include collections of Charles Darwin, James Clerk Maxwell, and Stephen Hawking, among others, if further funding is secured.
3 collections · potential future digitised collections (Darwin, Maxwell, Hawking)

Cambridge University Library said it wants to be a "digital library for the world" by putting its collection of more than seven million books online.

The plan follows a pledge of £1.5m, which will pay for the infrastructure for the first stage of the project.

The library will begin digitising "some of the greatest books in existence", including the papers of Isaac Newton.

Librarian Anne Jarvis said: "We want to make it accessible to anyone with an internet connection."

She added: "At the click of a mouse, students or scholars will be able to plunge into the worlds of Mediterranean Jewish, Muslim and Christian communities of the 11th Century, or into the minds of Isaac Newton and his contemporaries."

The first collections to be digitised will be entitled The Foundations of Faith and The Foundations of Science.

The library said its faith collections include some of the oldest and most significant Qur'ans ever to be uncovered, as well an eighth Century copy of Surat al-Anfal, the eighth chapter of the Qur'an.

It also holds the Jewish Taylor-Schechter Genizah Collection - 193,000 fragments of manuscripts as significant as the Dead Sea Scrolls, it said.

One of the most important Greek New Testament manuscripts are among its Christian holdings.

Records of the development of modern science, including the most comprehensive collection of Newton's papers, will be among the first to be digitised.

If successful, and following further funding, the collections of Charles Darwin, James Clerk Maxwell, and Stephen Hawking could also be digitised, along with other major collections in the fields of humanities and social sciences.

The £1.5m has been pledged by Dr Leonard Polonsky, the founder of the Polonsky-Coexist Lectureship in Jewish Studies at the university.

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