Despite all that's new in libraries, one of the most cherished items at the University of Victoria's McPherson Library is a 562-yearold medieval text.
The psalter, or religious volume, is from the Trieste region in northern Italy - from which very few manuscripts of that age survive.
It is kept in a protective box, secured in the office of UVic librarian Jonathan Bengt-son. He explained that UVic had a unique chance to purchase the book recently - for an undisclosed price, and with help from an endowment fund set up by an anonymous donor - and use it in conjunction with the university's medieval-studies program.
The book is in remarkable shape for its age, said Bengtson, who has a degree in medieval studies from Oxford University.
"It's got the original wooden boards. It's got the original sewing."
There are also tags or markers inside that have their original animal-hair coating.
At some point, the historical text will be digitized - scanned and put on the Internet - but nothing can compare with having the actual item, Bengtson said.
"There's an interest in seeing these older texts in particular go to a wider population, which is what we can do through digitization."
Like many books from its time, it is replete with commentary alongside the text. Bengtson said those added notes have been likened to blogs of the age.
