To: Hal Campbell who wrote (5097 ) 2/1/1999 8:57:00 PM From: Thomas Kirwin Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 17679
White House Touts Digital Archives January 30, 1999 11:28 AM PT First Lady announces $30 million 'Digital Library' chronicling nation's history. WASHINGTON -- Web surfers could be taking virtual tours of the Apollo 11 space capsule, sifting through decades of Ellis Island immigration records or freely downloading copies of Mark Twain's classic novel Huck Finn under a new White House initiative announced Friday. The $30 million ''Digital Library'' program will be offered as part of the Clinton administration's year 2000 budget, First Lady Hillary Clinton said at a conference of U.S. mayors here. The program, if approved by Congress, ''gives us a wonderful opportunity to reach out to schools and public libraries everywhere ... to enable people who might not have the opportunity to travel to the Archives or the Smithsonian to see over the miracle of the Internet what is here and what marks our history,'' Clinton said. White House officials said the program would give $5 million to the Smithsonian Institution and another $5 million to the National Park Service to create online archives of American historical items. Historic books, too Using computers, the agencies could digitize pictures, music, and oral histories to make them accessible online. More complicated techniques could be used to create virtual tours of battlefields, buildings or other sites of cultural interest. Another $10 million would be used to put hundreds of thousands of books whose copyright protections have expired online. Images of artwork will also be post on the net. The final $10 million will go to create an online library of math and science resources.