DPLA Launch Press Roundup: News Outlets

Now, With No Further Ado, We Present … the Digital Public Library of America!

“Two-and-a-half years ago, at a meeting in Cambridge, leaders of 42 of America’s top libraries and research institutions decided that the time had come to build something together. But what was that thing? After a half hour, Robert Darnton told The Atlantic last year, the group was able to agree on a single sentence: “It’s a worthy effort, and we are willing to work together toward it.” The “it” in question: a national, digital public library.”

From Rebecca J. Rosen’s article for The Atlantic, Now, With No Further Ado, We Present … the Digital Public Library of America!

Digital Public Library With Vast Archive Opens

“The Digital Public Library of America began beta testing Thursday, promising a site with millions of materials ranging from images of George Washington to footage of Freedom Riders during the civil rights era. Directors of the digital library, first conceived in 2010, include officials from Harvard University and the University of Michigan and a former executive at Google Inc. Government support includes the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.”

From Hillel Italie’s article for ABC News, Digital Public Library With Vast Archive Opens

The Digital Public Library of America is now open

“As a user, approaching the DPLA can seem daunting: Where do you start among so much content, especially when you can’t get even a rough physical sense of what’s there? There are any number of different ways. You can look at the DPLA’s “Exhibitions,” which pull content into themes (current exhibitions include Boston Sports Temples and Prohibition in the United States). Or use the Library Observatory app to browse the different collections under the DPLA umbrella. Or, you can just begin searching. I began by typing in “Western irrigation” on account of the novel Angle of Repose which I’ve been reading. The DPLA came back with 78 results, including a report from the 1890 census on “Agriculture by irrigation in the Western Part of the United States,” a handbook for arid agriculture, and a historical text on the Mormon role in irrigation.”

From Kevin Hartnett’s article for Boston.com, The Digital Public Library of America is now open

A First Look at the Digital Public Library of America

“One of the remarkable things about the DPLA is its openness. The governance of the DPLA is open in that its planning initiatives have been open and available for public comment. The source code that runs the DPLA is available on GitHub, and developers have been organizing “hackathons” to improve the code both before and after the formal launch. Most important, the DPLA has an open API and open data, which allows developers to build applications on top of the DPLA, and which allows researchers to access the collections programmatically. I’m no expert on metadata or APIs, but it’s apparent from their description of the philosophy behind the API that the DPLA has thought out the way they represent data in detailed and thought-provoking ways.”

From Lincoln Mullen’s article for Chronicle of Higher Education, A First Look at the Digital Public Library of America

5 Amazing Finds at the Digital Public Library of America 

“If you want to head to the library, you won’t have to leave home anymore. Just log on to the Digital Public Library of America, a newly launched, massive collection of historical books, manuscripts, documents, photos, and videos from across the country. ‘The idea behind the Digital Public Library of America is fairly simple actually—it is the attempt, really a large-scale attempt, to knit together America’s archives, libraries, and museums, which have a tremendous amount of content,’ said Dan Cohen, the library’s executive director.”

From Vi-An Nyugen’s article in Parade, 5 Amazing Finds at the Digital Public Library of America

Today’s Launch of The Digital Public Library of America

“Another area of future expansion will be applications built by third-party developers using the DPLA API. Two such applications are showcased today on the DPLA site, one facilitating the searching and visualizing of the DPLA collections, the other a tool for searching across the DPLA and Europeana, a similar portal providing access to European collections. But there will be many more to come. Cohen introduced me to Historypin, and app with which you can walk through a Civil War battlefield (or any other location) and see on your phone historical photographs in the DPLA that have been geo-coded for that location. Another app in development will use data mining technologies to connect items in the DPLA showing the user how concepts and ideas have changed over time. ‘We are not restricting the data in any way,’ says Cohen, ‘so there will be a wide range of applications, including commercial.'”

From Gil Press’s article for Forbes, Today’s Launch of The Digital Public Library of America

A Digital Library and a Look at a Neurologist’s Hobbies

“Not satisfied with the online bookstores offered by companies like Google and Amazon, a small but ambitious group at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard, with the help of an army of volunteers, is introducing the Digital Public Library of America. The group’s goal is to make “the cultural and scientific heritage of humanity available, free of charge, to all.” The site will start small on Thursday, with content from the Smithsonian, the New York Public Library and a handful of state archives, but plans to add millions of public domain books.”

From Jascha Hoffman’s article for The New York Times, A Digital Library and a Look at a Neurologist’s Hobbies

Book News: Vast ‘Digital Public Library Of America’ Opens Today

“The Digital Public Library of America, intended to provide free open access to materials from libraries, museums, universities and archives across the country, launches at noon ET on Thursday. The project began as an initiative at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard, and was funded by foundations including the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Robert Darnton, Harvard University librarian and history professor,writes in The New York Review of Booksthat “at first, the DPLA’s offering will be limited to a rich variety of collections — books, manuscripts, and works of art — that have already been digitized in cultural institutions throughout the country. Around this core it will grow, gradually accumulating material of all kinds until it will function as a national digital library.””

From Annalisa Quinn’s article for NPR’s Book News, Book News: Vast ‘Digital Public Library Of America’ Opens Today

New Digital Library Launches: Internet + Ancient Library of Alexandria

“According to author Doron Weber, it’s “as if the Ancient Library of Alexandria had met the Modern World Wide Web and digitized America for the benefit of all.” If that sounds like a lofty description, it’s perhaps appropriate for the organization’s lofty goals. The beta version of the “discovery portal” was rolled out this morning at the New York Public Library, after the larger launch that had been planned to take place at the Boston Public Library was cancelled due to the events at this week’s Boston Marathon.”

From Lily Rothman’s article for TIME, New Digital Library Launches: Internet + Ancient Library of Alexandria