Government Documents for You

There are not many events as important in the history of Western
civilization as the invention and widespread adoption of printing
techniques. This site from The University of Iowa Libraries will enchant
even those who haven't thought about Gutenberg and his ilk since their
Western Civ class in junior high. The Atlas of Early Printing is designed
primarily to be used as a tool for teaching the early history of printing in
Europe and visitors can use the interactive map to learn more about this
process.

The interactive map of Europe allows users to turn on and off different
layers on the map that document the spread of printing, paper mills, fairs,
and trade routes in order to get a better sense of how this technology
gradually spread. Visitors can also click on each map element to learn a bit
more, and in the case of each city, visitors can learn about the first
recorded work printed there. Overall, this resource will be invaluable to
educators, and even those with a passing interest in this area of human
endeavor may find themselves making numerous return visits to the site.

http://atlas.lib.uiowa.edu/

**Text taken from posting by Joanne Riley on The University of Alabama's SLIS-Listserv.**

Post on UA SLIS-L from: Joanne Riley, Associate University Librarian for Digital Library Services, Joseph P. Healey Library, University of Massachusetts-Boston