The Universal Digital Library: 1.5 Million E-Books and Counting

By COED Staff

For the first time in history, all “significant literary, artistic, and scientific works of mankind can be digitally preserved and made available, in every corner of the world, for our education, study, and appreciation and that of all our future generations.”

The Universal Library (ULIB) is a long-running internet project that plans to be a one-stop portal for all books, digitizing what is to become the be-all, end-all of archiving. Best of all, the complete collection will be free of charge. College students rejoice: never again will you have to pay $65 for a book on Western Civilization if ULIB is successful.

The Universal Library is not without its critics, though: The New Yorker‘s Anthony Grafton muses about losing the printed page in “Future Reading,” where he questions the reliability of digital storage. While I agree with the brunt of Grafton’s skepticism the idea of archiving major works – not just textbooks, but historical records, documents, etc. – seems like a worthwhile endeavor.

The internet is one of the fastest – if not the fastest – growing outlets for information available worldwide. To criticize the merits of such a large project is unavoidable; but we should stay open to the possibilities while offering constructive criticism.

Universal Digital Library is up and running today, with over 1.5 million books in its current archive. Check it out when your professor hands you the book list for next semester.