Legendary library rebuilt online.

Egypt's legendary library in Alexandria once boasted that it had a copy of virtually every known manuscript in the ancient world. At its peak, the library in Egypt's largest port city probably held 700,000 scrolls, the equivalent of 100,000-125,000 printed books.

Directors of the new Alexandria Library, which opened a physical building with 250,000 books last October, have joined with an American artist and software engineers in an effort to make virtually all of the world's books available online. Many libraries already provide access to hundreds or even thousands of electronic books, but the Alexandria Library hopes to link the world's major digital archives and to make the books more accessible than ever with new software.

The project, the Alexandria Library Scholars Collective, will enable users of the software to visit the Web site, www.bibalex.gov.eg, and view an illustrated library, complete with calling cards and stacks, that will link them to online texts. They will store their digital selections from the library's collection on shelves in an on-screen personal locker. The software also includes virtual auditoriums, classrooms, and offices with lamps where scholars can exchange information, teach classes, or hold office hours. The rooms and lecture halls can be customized for universities that want to use the library's software for remote learning.

Library director Ismail Serageldin told the New York Times that the library has embarked on a plan to digitize thousands of books over the next few years, most of them Arabic texts with French and English translations. Other works are scheduled to be scanned elsewhere in Africa, including an entire library of crumbling medieval manuscripts from a monastery in Timbuktu in Mali. The library also will have access to 1 million books that are now being scanned by Carnegie Mellon University, which is creating its own vast digital archive. The library plans to begin negotiating for access to digital collections at other libraries and universities around the world, offering access to its own materials and its network of scholars in exchange.

The project ultimately could revolutionize learning in developing countries where libraries are often non-existent, but it faces huge legal and technical obstacles, including copyright infringement, high costs, and language barriers. Its success will depend on its ability to raise money from foundations and to forge links with governments and universities that can offer access to their own books and materials.