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The Three Libraries of Alexandria
Posted on 2006/02/21
The prestige of the Library of Alexandria, the largest collection of texts in the ancient world, and the controversies about its size, location and destruction are still today, two thousand years after its first attestation, sources of vivid debates, inspiration and wonder. Assumed to have been founded during the reign of Ptolemies in Egypt, at the beginning of the 3rd century BC, the library is believed to have held a number of scrolls varying from 40,000 to 700,000, most of them in Greek. The chief librarians were in charge to collect books from all over the world, and to manage their transcription, recording, classification, and translation. Famous scholars of the Antiquity, philosophers, scientists and poets, are supposed to have studied there.
Today’s Bibliotheca Alexandrina is intended to be a modern replica, recreating the spirit of the ancient, lost library. Placed in a futuristic cylindrical shape complex in Alexandria, the library, officially opened in October 2002, includes more than 200.000 works in many languages, and its capacity is estimated at millions of books. The library also contains an Internet center, specialized sections for audio-visual and electronic materials, microforms and rare books, as well as a Planetarium, study rooms, reading halls, museums, and spaces for conferences and art galleries.
The Internet visitor of the virtual library may consult the on-line catalogue, download digitized books, and display information about the collections, expositions and cultural events hosted by the library. A special Book Mobile service is designed to provide download and print facilities to schools having no access to books or computers.
Is this a story of destruction and rebirth, of transformation and technological progress, relating the legendary past, the present and the changing future? Certainly, it is. But it also suggests that irrespective of its form, content, reading or access techniques, the role of the library was, is and will remain the same, i.e. that of a radiating repository for universal knowledge.
Today’s Bibliotheca Alexandrina is intended to be a modern replica, recreating the spirit of the ancient, lost library. Placed in a futuristic cylindrical shape complex in Alexandria, the library, officially opened in October 2002, includes more than 200.000 works in many languages, and its capacity is estimated at millions of books. The library also contains an Internet center, specialized sections for audio-visual and electronic materials, microforms and rare books, as well as a Planetarium, study rooms, reading halls, museums, and spaces for conferences and art galleries.
The Internet visitor of the virtual library may consult the on-line catalogue, download digitized books, and display information about the collections, expositions and cultural events hosted by the library. A special Book Mobile service is designed to provide download and print facilities to schools having no access to books or computers.
Is this a story of destruction and rebirth, of transformation and technological progress, relating the legendary past, the present and the changing future? Certainly, it is. But it also suggests that irrespective of its form, content, reading or access techniques, the role of the library was, is and will remain the same, i.e. that of a radiating repository for universal knowledge.
Comments
margaret zeegers
said:
While we are on the subject of the Alexandria Library, has anybody had a look at the following:
Traue, J. (1992, Sept 27-Oct 2). From priestly concubine to capitalist whore. Paper presented at the Second Biennial Conference:Libraries: the Heart of the Matter, Albury.
It is a most interesting view of the library and its rape, seen in femisnist terms as pwer plays by invading armies, and a most fascinating discussion of the implications.
While we are on the subject of the Alexandria Library, has anybody had a look at the following:
Traue, J. (1992, Sept 27-Oct 2). From priestly concubine to capitalist whore. Paper presented at the Second Biennial Conference:Libraries: the Heart of the Matter, Albury.
It is a most interesting view of the library and its rape, seen in femisnist terms as pwer plays by invading armies, and a most fascinating discussion of the implications.
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said:
The Children's Book Council of Australia National Conference in Sydney in May this year also raised a number of interesting issues regarding the future of the book, and devoted a panel session to issues raised by the rapid and wonderfully interesting new formats for reading. A major theme was the posting of reading and reading responses on the Web. What was most interesting, though, was the fact that regardless of how things are published, the ownership of the material itself resides with the author of the material. It would seem, therefore, that authors (of books, of journal articles, of newpaper articles and reports, and so on)are pretty secure in their positions. Apparently those who are not so secure are those in traditional outlets of that material (publishing houses, booksellers, newspaper owners, and so on). It would appear that these are the ones that need to be on their toes when it comes to people being able to access what is being produced by writers; that the writers themselves need have little fear as to what happens to the books that they produce. Has anybody else been to nay such sessions, or would like to comment?
Margaret Zeegers
The Children's Book Council of Australia National Conference in Sydney in May this year also raised a number of interesting issues regarding the future of the book, and devoted a panel session to issues raised by the rapid and wonderfully interesting new formats for reading. A major theme was the posting of reading and reading responses on the Web. What was most interesting, though, was the fact that regardless of how things are published, the ownership of the material itself resides with the author of the material. It would seem, therefore, that authors (of books, of journal articles, of newpaper articles and reports, and so on)are pretty secure in their positions. Apparently those who are not so secure are those in traditional outlets of that material (publishing houses, booksellers, newspaper owners, and so on). It would appear that these are the ones that need to be on their toes when it comes to people being able to access what is being produced by writers; that the writers themselves need have little fear as to what happens to the books that they produce. Has anybody else been to nay such sessions, or would like to comment?
Margaret Zeegers
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See my response at http://www.bigbible.org/blog/2006/03/new-biblionblog-and-libraries.htm
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Tim. I cannot get to your page. And if I can't. no doubt others can't either
Margaret zeegers
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Tim. I cannot get to your page. And if I can't. no doubt others can't either
Margaret zeegers
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