Google and the British Library are going to digitise some 250,000 out-of-copyright books from the BL's collection, making them searchable and available to anyone on the internet.
This is good news if you've ever tried to find a spare desk in the Reading Rooms or felt a bit intimidated by the security guards wandering around telling people off for using biros. The project will cover books, pamphlets and periodicals from between 1700-1870, including some feminist material about Queen Marie-Antoinette and a history of the hippopotamus which takes a look at a stuffed one belonging to the Prince of Orange.
This development is on top of a new iPad app, launched a couple of weeks ago, which carries scans of 60,000 19th century books. You'll have to wait a while (and pay) for full access, but until then 1,000 - including some well-loved novels - are available for free.
Photo by McTumshie from the Londonist Flickr pool