How Robarts Reached Beyond Its Walls: U of T Libraries and the Internet Archive
In this bonus episode of “The Unquiet Library: 50 Years of Robarts Library,” host Jesse Carliner introduces how the University of Toronto Libraries began extending access beyond Robarts through early digitization and a partnership with Brewster Kahle’s Internet Archive. Former chief librarian Carol Moore recounts a 1994 proposal to Canada’s “Group of 10” research universities for mass-digitization funding, early 1990s experiments including print-on-demand for out-of-print books for Japanese universities, and lessons from monitoring public-domain use. She describes evaluating Amazon, then launching a 2004 digitization trial with Internet Archive scanning machines, overcoming logistics challenges, and securing about $10 million via a Microsoft-linked project with multiple libraries, enabling roughly 300,000 U of T texts to be digitized. The effort found space on Robarts’ seventh floor and helped keep the library connected to rapid technological change.
For more on Robarts’ history, visit uoft.me/robarts50 and follow @unquietlibrary on Instagram, Blue Sky, and TikTok.
00:00 Moving the collections online
01:06 Early Digital Vision
03:01 Early Experiments and Lessons Learned
04:58 The Surprise Hit
05:42 Enter Brewster Kahle
06:26 The Pilot Project and Growth
07:56 Why the 7th floor of Robarts?
08:36 Reflection
09:42 Conclusion
Theme music:
Felipe Sarro, Bach-Siloti - Prelude BWV 855a
Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication
Sound credits:
2 08 Br Lib amb 5.wav by ERH -- https://freesound.org/s/51632/ -- License: Attribution 4.0
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