[calpaterson]

> the web is the greatest library in the history of the world

I think this is web-boosterism. Consider another candidate for greatest library in history of the world: the British Library. 200 million items, most of them available to read at 45 minutes notice, centrally located in one of the worlds most important cities.

I'm bet that 99% of what is on this page is in the BL. Is 99% of what is in the BL on the web?

EDIT: For context, here is some of the stuff in the BL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Library#Highlights_of_...

[movedx]

How do I access the British Library from India? Or perhaps from Australia? New Zealand? What about Canada?

The Internet offers a unique value proposition the British Library does not: it's globally available, for free, and in the case of Wikipedia might even come in your native tongue. It also offers video content, live or otherwise, on any Internet connected device you happen to own.

The British Library doesn't compare, but it sure is an exceptional resource.

a lot of the time

[calpaterson]

> How do I access the British Library from India?

You clearly can't (though India no special shortage of excellent libraries). But how important is access? Is the chip shop down the road from you the Worlds Greatest Restaurant just because it's the easiest to get to? Or is that place in Paris with 3 Michelin stars better?

The web-as-a-library relies on people creating good stuff and paying for it to be on the web for free. It just doesn't happen that often and Wikipedia is, I'm afraid, not the last word on human knowledge.

[rvieira]

Well, the web has some obvious advantages over mostly-paper libraries.

I'm sure a certain library in Alexandria would have appreciated off-site backups :)

[tutfbhuf]

> centrally located

That's not necessarily a good thing. Think of a fire.