I was just reading on CNN about a really cool use of technology, seeing as I had thought up the very same idea independently a few months ago I am mighty pleased to see it actually being done.
The general idea is that these people are photographing and putting on the web the entire contents of about 100 ancient christian manuscripts from the library of a monastery in the Sinai Desert. As an academic resource it’s fantastic, from both the historical and theological viewpoints. It will in theory help scholars better understand the evolution of the scriptures, and in doing so the evolution of the christian faith.
Ultimately this is something I’d love to see rolled out globally.
I keep on watching these cool documentaries on ABC and SBS where the historians go all over Europe and are shown these gorgeous, priceless and unbelievably historically important books and manuscripts which then get promptly locked back up again as soon as the presenter has stopped pointing excitedly at it and explaining it’s significance.
Really what would be spectacular would be if all those books were photographed, and the results placed on an open web site for all to see. I realise that this is more of my digital pack-rat-ism coming to the fore again, but I still think that it’s a great idea.