Or perhaps a first-edition, autographed copy of HG Wells’s The Time Machine is a more suitable choice for your own personal library?

These books and more will be made available to the public, beginning this year, through a unique partnership between Canada’s McMaster University Library and US-based companies Kirtas Technologies, Inc. and www.Lulu.com.

With the support of Kirtas’ Canadian reseller, Ristech, McMaster University will be using the Kirtas APT BookScan 2400RA to digitise rare, out-of-print books. Once the books are digitised and processed, files will be made available to the world on the Internet through the university library and for sale as print-on-demand books on Lulu.com.

“We have significant collections that we would like to make more widely accessible through digitisation,” said Jeffrey Trzeciak, University Librarian at McMaster University. “The digitisation technology provided by Kirtas, the support and service we receive from Ristech, and the ability of Lulu to pull it all together increases both the electronic availability and the availability of the books in print for those who choose print on demand.”

As the publisher of these unique books, the Library also hopes to generate revenue through the print-on-demand service.

Rare classics will be available POD

“We see more and more universities taking advantage of the print-on-demand option that is enabled through the digitization process,” said Kirtas Founder and CEO Lotfi Belkhir. “Not only are these institutions sharing their unique collections, but they are also creating a revenue stream that allows them to reinvest in their access and preservation efforts.”

“This is a tremendous opportunity for our customers to obtain books that may not be easy to find,” said Lulu.com CEO and founder, Bob Young. “In addition to being a place to publish, Lulu is a vast marketplace where anyone can buy books on just about any subject.”

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