>>Virtual Chicago

In just ten years, the Internet has grown from an experiment in Al Gore's garage to what many believe will eventually replace printed matter, and the University of Chicago Library has kept pace. Besides offering an online version of its catalog of circulating materials to patrons, the library has begun digitizing fragile collections to make them available to the public.

A quick look through the U of C collection of digital projects reveals a number of ongoing cyber endeavors, including:

Ancient Near East and the Mediterranean World
The National Endowment for the Humanities has provided funding for the library to digitize approximately 10,000 pages from its Ancient Near East and Classics collections, focusing on manuscripts from 1850 to 1950 covering the archaeology, art, history, language, law, and religion of Sumer, Babylonia, Assyria, Egypt, Nubia, and Persia.

www.lib.uchicago.edu/h/eos

That Other Fair-Chicago World's Fair: A Century of Progress
This project to digitally document Chicago's 1933 World's Fair features 2,000 pages from the official collection of pamphlets, brochures, and booklets published specifically for the Fair and issued between 1933 and 1935.

www.lib.uchicago.edu/h/ecuip

The First American West: The Ohio River Valley, 1750-1820
A joint endeavor of the library and the Filson Club Historical Society of Louisville, Kentucky, the First American West project is digitizing 745 rare books, pamphlets, maps, newspapers, manuscripts, and prints. The materials offer images of the Ohio River Valley, from its early settlement to the passing of the frontier beyond the Mississippi River.

www.lib.uchicago.edu/h/tfw

Pamphlets and Periodicals of the French Revolution of 1848
When France's 1848 declaration of provisional government lifted many restrictions on the press, periodicals and other printed materials proliferated. This collaboration of the Center for Research Libraries, the library, and the Project for American and French Research on the Treasury of the French Language comprises more than 100 French pamphlets and periodicals from 1848 to 1851.

humanities.uchicago.edu/ARTFL/projects/CRL

World Wide Web location:

www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/dl/diglist.html