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| − | A '''library''' is a place set apart to contain [[book]]s, [[periodical]]s, and other material for reading, viewing, listening, study, or [[reference]]. A library may be a [[commercial]] establishment lending books for a fixed charge; a lending library, or a [[public library]]. | + | [[File:Customs House Library book shelves.jpg|thumbnail|Customs House Library]] |
| | + | A '''library''' is a place set apart to contain [[book]]s, [[periodical]]s, and other material for reading, viewing, listening, study, or [[reference]].<ref>https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/library</ref> Most libraries are either private collections or publicly available lending libraries which are generally funded by taxes and donations. A library may also be part of a commercial establishment and not deal with the public. In the 19th century lending libraries were common, where people could rent books. After [[Andrew Carnegie]] set up 3000 libraries in the US, Britain and Canada (1900-1920), the [[public library]] has been a major factor. Colleges and universities maintain libraries for their students, as well as research collections that are open to the public. |
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| | + | The largest public libraries include the Library of Congress, the British Library and the New York Public Library.<ref>http://opishposh.com/10-biggest-libraries-in-the-world</ref> The largest university libraries are at Harvard, Yale, Illinois, Berkeley, and Stanford. Most academic libraries have a "rare rbook" collection, and there are some private libraries that specialize in rare books, such as the Newberry Library in Chicago. |
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| | + | Public and academic libraries typically provide access to online databases that have copies of books and recent articles from magazines and scholarly journals. They subscribe to services such as [[EBSCO]], [[JSTOR]], [[Project MUSE]] and [[History Cooperative]]. People can use these resources from off-site if they have a password, as is common in colleges and universities. |
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| | + | ==E-library== |
| | + | Due to the popularity of the internet, some institutions have set up Electronic libraries, consisting entirely of [[e-books]], and .PDF files.<ref name="ebooks">http://www.ipl.org/</ref> By definition, the entire Internet is a massive library, hosted across nations, and completely unrestricted.<ref name="ebooks"/> |
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| | + | ==References== |
| | + | {{reflist}} |
| | [[Category:Libraries]] | | [[Category:Libraries]] |