BiblioVault
Encyclopedia
The BiblioVault is a digital
repository for scholarly
books that enables publishers to manage their books throughout their lifecycles. Development began in late 2001 under the auspices of the University of Chicago Press
, with financial
support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
.
The repository holds several types of digital files, including original design files, vector PDF files used to print newer books, raster (image) PDF files for older books that have been scanned
, and XML
files. In addition, BiblioVault stores ASCII
files of the text for the older books that were created by OCRing
the page images. As of summer 2008, the repository contained digital files for over 15,000 books from 49 university presses.
The BiblioVault is associated with a digital printing
center within the Chicago Digital Distribution Center that allows economical short-run printing of titles stored in the repository. Presses can also request that copies of the files for their books be sent to other printers or to various other parties that might use the files for ebook delivery or promotion of the books. The public can search the repository and view marketing information about titles (including, for some books, tables of contents and excerpts). BiblioVault will soon offer its partner publishers a means for selling electronic content directly to consumers.
BiblioVault will provide electronic files for some titles to accessibility offices for students with disabilities, but all other requests to purchase books are directed to the publishers' web sites and shopping carts.
Digital
A digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital systems use a continuous range of values to represent information...
repository for scholarly
Academia
Academia is the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research.-Etymology:The word comes from the akademeia in ancient Greece. Outside the city walls of Athens, the gymnasium was made famous by Plato as a center of learning...
books that enables publishers to manage their books throughout their lifecycles. Development began in late 2001 under the auspices of the University of Chicago Press
University of Chicago Press
The University of Chicago Press is the largest university press in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including The Chicago Manual of Style, dozens of academic journals, including Critical Inquiry, and a wide array of...
, with financial
Finance
"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...
support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation of New York City and Princeton, New Jersey in the United States, is a private foundation with five core areas of interest, endowed with wealth accumulated by the late Andrew W. Mellon of the Mellon family of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the product of the 1969...
.
The repository holds several types of digital files, including original design files, vector PDF files used to print newer books, raster (image) PDF files for older books that have been scanned
Image scanner
In computing, an image scanner—often abbreviated to just scanner—is a device that optically scans images, printed text, handwriting, or an object, and converts it to a digital image. Common examples found in offices are variations of the desktop scanner where the document is placed on a glass...
, and XML
XML
Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
files. In addition, BiblioVault stores ASCII
ASCII
The American Standard Code for Information Interchange is a character-encoding scheme based on the ordering of the English alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers, communications equipment, and other devices that use text...
files of the text for the older books that were created by OCRing
Optical character recognition
Optical character recognition, usually abbreviated to OCR, is the mechanical or electronic translation of scanned images of handwritten, typewritten or printed text into machine-encoded text. It is widely used to convert books and documents into electronic files, to computerize a record-keeping...
the page images. As of summer 2008, the repository contained digital files for over 15,000 books from 49 university presses.
The BiblioVault is associated with a digital printing
Printing
Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing....
center within the Chicago Digital Distribution Center that allows economical short-run printing of titles stored in the repository. Presses can also request that copies of the files for their books be sent to other printers or to various other parties that might use the files for ebook delivery or promotion of the books. The public can search the repository and view marketing information about titles (including, for some books, tables of contents and excerpts). BiblioVault will soon offer its partner publishers a means for selling electronic content directly to consumers.
BiblioVault will provide electronic files for some titles to accessibility offices for students with disabilities, but all other requests to purchase books are directed to the publishers' web sites and shopping carts.