Celebrating 15 years of Parker Library On the Web
From the perspective of history, considered in hundreds of years (our oldest manuscript was made over 14 centuries ago!), a decade and a half is barely even a blip. However, the collaboration between the Parker Library at Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge and Stanford University Libraries culminated in an exceptional bright moment about 15 years ago: the launch of Parker Library On the Web. We decided to take a walk down memory lane, and record some testimonies from the early years of the project and the impact it had, and continues to have, to the field of medieval manuscript studies at large.
The Parker Library – on and off the web
The Parker Library is the greatest national heritage treasure of Corpus Christi College at the University of Cambridge. Its international fame is based on its important collection of medieval and renaissance manuscripts, as well as its valuable holdings of early printed books. The collection was largely established by Matthew Parker (d. 1575) in the late sixteenth century.
Thanks to the diligence and attentiveness of not only Matthew Parker, but also the subsequent librarians, the collection remains intact. It is accessible to modern readers and visitors in a variety of ways, be it on-site (research, teaching, guided tours), off-site (programme of lending manuscripts to exhibitions) or on-line via Parker Library On the Web.
The current librarians, Fellow Librarian and Director of the Parker Library, Professor Philippa Hoskin and the Sub-Librarian and Special Collections Librarian Tuija Ainonen, sat down to describe how the digital library platform operates in relation to the physical library. Take a moment to listen to them discussing the significance of the Parker Library and its collection:
The video is a part of a series of videos marking the 15th anniversary of Parker Library On the Web. Stay tuned for the next instalment where we will hear from an insider what it was like behind the scenes during the early years of the project.
Celebrating the 15th anniversary of Parker Library On the Web:
Parker's Gift | The Early Years | Ambition and Achievement | Opening up Access | Teaching with Medieval Manuscripts
More to read:
