Keynote address by Fionnuala Croke, Director of Chester Beatty Library Dublin 'When is a library not a library' Delivered at 'Information Innovators: Librarians evolving in the digital environment' Academic & special libraries conference Thursday Feb 27 2014,

1. When is a Library
not a Library?
Fionnuala Croke, Chester Beatty Library
A&SL Annual Conference February 2014

2. Part 1: introduction to Chester Beatty

3. Beatty’s first wife with their daughter Ninette and son Chester, 1907

4. Baroda House, Kensington Palace Gardens, London

5. Edith Beatty, c. 1913

6. Ninette and Chester Jnr, Cairo

7. Baroda House, Library c.1913 (W.G. Beatty)

8. © RIBA Library Photographs Collection

9. Baroda House, Garden Library (photo 1937)

10. Baroda House, Garden Library (converted stables), 1937

11. Above: the conservatory at Baroda (with
Beatty’s Chinese ceiling superimposed)
Below: a glimpse from the picture gallery
into the Chinese Library/converted conservatory

12. Chester Beatty Library, Chinese ceiling
Shrewsbury Road Reading Room
with Chinese ceiling
Clock Tower, Dublin Castle
Reference Library
with Chinese ceiling

13. The Chester Beatty Library,
Shrewsbury Road, Dublin,
opened 8 August 1953

14. Chester Beatty Library, Clock Tower Building
Dublin Castle (opened 2000)

17. So, when is a library
not a library?
...
...
...
when it’s a museum
when it’s a visitor attraction
when it’s a forum for
intercultural dialogue!

18. Part 2: Chester Beatty: the digital challenges

19. Before and after conservation.
CBL In 30, ff. 1b-2a
Illuminated Frontispiece
The Treasure of Khawarizm Shah (medical
encyclopedia)
Golconda, India, 1572

20. In 2012, over 1000 high resolution images were added to the collection, including two fully
conserved and digitised manuscripts.
CBL Is 1558, f.445a
Illuminated Endpiece, al-Qur'an
Ruzbihan Muhammad al-Tab‘i al-Shirazi
Mid-16th century, Shiraz, Iran
CBL Heb, f.43v
Samaritan Pentateuch
13th century

21. 1960s: The CBL began capturing Arabic manuscripts on microfilm.
Over 2200 of these are now available in a digital format.
CBL Ar 3029, Rahmat al-umma fi 'khtilaf al-a'imma:
An account of the points of agreement and difference between
four Sunni schools of law, dated 21 January, 1473

22. Chester Beatty Library Digital Initiative
CBL Image Gallery launched 2008 (beta) and 2010 cbl.ie/Image-Gallery.aspx

25. Chester Beatty Library Digital Initiative
Telling Images of China: Narrative and Figure Paintings from the Shanghai Museum
Digital and In-Gallery Exhibitions, 2010, cbl.ie/china/

28. Chester Beatty Library Digital Initiative
CBL Islamic Seals Database www.cbl.ie/islamicseals

29. For each seal, the database
provides the ability to:
•Zoom Image
•View Full Folio
•View Catalogue
Scholars submit the following
moderated information:
•Date
•Shape
•Arabic Transcription
•Transliteration
•Translation
•Identify Person/Institution
•Identify other seal
appearances
•General comments

30. Chester Beatty Library Digital Initiative
Treasures of the Chester Beatty Library
iOS App - 2013

31. International Collaborations
The Chester Beatty Library actively collaborates with funded projects
throughout the world, conduct research into our collections, assist with
digitisation and help increase accessibility though online databases and
repositories.
Digital Humanities Observatory - Ireland
discovery.dho.ie
Virtual Collection of Masterpieces (ASEMUS: Asia Europe Museum Network)
masterpieces.asemus.museum

32. Chester Beatty Library Collaborative Partnership

33. Chester Beatty Library Collaborative Partnership
The HUMI Project
Keio University, Japan
humi.keio.ac.jp
Since 2003, the HUMI project
has helped the Chester Beatty
Library create around 8000
images of Japanese picture and
story scrolls in our collection.
CBL J 1107, detail, two volume handscroll
Yoshitsune’s Invasion of Hell, 17th Century Japan

34. Chester Beatty Library Collaborative Partnership
Art Research Centre
Ritsumeikan University, Japan
arc.ritsumei.ac.jp
In 2010, The Art Research Centre
at Ritsumeikan University helped
the Chester Beatty Library create
over 800 images of Japanese prints
in our collection.
CBL J 2125
Cleaver, plate, cup stand and cherry
blossom by Hokkei

35. Chester Beatty Library Collaborative Partnership
Index of Christian Art
Princeton University, USA
ica.princeton.edu
In 2012, the Chester Beatty Library
uploaded over 300 images to the Index of
Christian Art database at Princeton
University.
CBL W 099, f. 1
Jesus Christ, Rosarium of Phillip II of Spain,
c. 1530, Bruges, Belgium

36. Chester Beatty Library Collaborative Partnership
Japanese Buddhist Art in Europe Database
Hosei University, Japan and the University of
Zurich, Switzerland
aterui.i.hosei.ac.jp:8080/oguchi
Since 2011, the Chester Beatty Library has
been contributing images of Japanese Buddhist
materials in our collection to this online
database.
CBL J 1214
The Bodhisattva Jizo,
Hanging Scroll, 15th Century Japan

37. Chester Beatty Library Collaborative Partnership
The Manichean Kephalaia Project
National Endowment for the Humanities, USA and
the Australian Research Council
CBL BP I, f. 29v detail

38. Chester Beatty Library Collaborative Partnership
New Testament Virtual Manuscript Room
Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Germany
ntvmr.uni-muenster.de

39. Chester Beatty Library Collaborative Partnership
The Chester Beatty Library is able to contribute our highest resolution images (ca. 225 mb)
because the NT.VMR does not allow for high resolution download of complete images. The
annotated clips, however, allow for in-depth research into this important material.

40. New Media Consortium:
The Horizon Report > 2013 Museum Edition
Emerging Technologies
Time to Adoption Horizon
2011
2013
One Year or Less
Mobile Apps
BYOD
Tablet Computing
Crowdsourcing
Augmented Reality
Electronic Publishing
Electronic Publishing
BYOD
Digital Preservation
Natural User Interfaces
Smart Objects
Preservation and Conservation
Technologies
Two to Three Years
Four to Five Years
http://www.nmc.org/publications/2013-horizon-report-museum

41. fcroke@cbl.ie
http://www.t-systems.com