History

My passion for books, bookshops, libraries and education is boundless! Present in all aspects of our lives, books can change the world, as Johannes Gutenberg was soon to realise after he had perfected his metal moveable type printing press in 1437. Needing to establish the merits of his invention, he decided to print a book which could not fail to capture the imagination of his contemporaries - the Bible! In about 1455, he poured lead around a letter die to form a matrix and a mould and used them to set the 42-line columns of the Bible still known today as the Mazarin Bible after its illustrious owner. Gutenberg's press soon gained the recognition it deserved.

Gutenberg's invention had far-reaching economic and cultural repercussions. Book-making became so profitable that by 1500 some thirty European cities had acquired a press and the importance of publishing took on a new dimension. The works published were carefully chosen and they were to have a major impact on the spread of European culture. With Gutenberg's invention it became a lot easier to communicate ideas, firstly those of the ancient writers and then those of humanist thinkers seeking to denounce the failings of contemporary society. Knowledge gradually spread through the efforts of European publishers. Then came the Reformation. Between 1518 and 1521, no less than 800 editions of a hundred of Martin Luther's works were published in several languages, and they were to exercise considerable influence upon European society of the time.
Today, six centuries after Gutenberg's invention, the printed book is still the prime vehicle for sharing knowledge. Libraries play a vital role in the process. Their success is largely due to the simple fact that, rather than owning books, the important thing is having access to them as and when needed. Five years spent in the trading rooms of various merchant banks in the City of London taught me the importance of having the right information at hand at the right time. Not only was it nice to have, it was a downright necessity! Sat in front of a bank of computer screens during the day and an avid web surfer in my spare time, I started to formulate a vision of how my former academic profession might, indeed should, benefit from such tools.

Thus was born the Cyberlibris concept – an entirely new approach to education and research that draws upon a new resource, the digital library. The French word for library is "bibliothèque" which, like the English word "bookcase", stems from the Greek biblion (book) and theke (case). Using the best Internet and digital technology available today, Cyberlibris instantly unlocks that bookcase and delivers the right content at the right time directly to the user, be they a teacher, student or business professional. A digital library has countless applications in the educational field. For example, when preparing his course materials, no longer does the teacher have to stick religiously to the compulsory textbook or other stipulated reading. Whatever its merits, no single textbook can cover the full breadth and depth of a discipline. Indeed, to capture the full essence of any subject we need to consult the full spectrum of views and beliefs on offer from other authors. Doing the 'sherpa work' for the students under his wing adds enormously to the conscientious teacher's value, enabling him to map out a rich variety of course content. Unlike Gutenberg's printed book, which lends itself ill to this type of exercise, Cyberlibris fully empowers the teacher. An incredible wealth of content from the world's leading publishing houses has been patiently assembled here, so that the teacher may assemble his own collection of reference material and thus considerably enhance the value of the learning experience for his students.
Two years of very intensive work went into taking Cyberlibris from the concept stage to a fully operational site: http://www.cyberlibris.com/
And we are hard at work on ways to make the system even better, for Cyberlibris lives both through and for the community it is designed to serve.
All the members of the Cyberlibris design team share this vision and have one aim in mind - to keep moving forward and share knowledge with enthusiasm and passion!

We have developed state-of-the-art digital technologies (xml, rss, atom, api, newsreader, podcasts…) to make your Cyberlibris experience most rewarding.
Our tech team has selected the best providers whose know-how has been adapted and incorporated into our platform.
Thanks to our strategic partnership with ebrary® a friendly and efficient work environment has been developed and crafted to the specific needs of academic institutions and corporations.

A round-the-clock, unrestricted access to the finest resources in management and economics.
These resources include a digital library and a portfolio of carefully selected business and academic research contents.
Cyberlibris Academia provides a fresh perspective on pedagogy and research. It enables academic institutions to enhance the “richness” and “reachness” of their curriculum.