I used to sigh every time I saw "British Library" headlines, as they usually found some stupid way to wrap everything in icky Microsoft technologies long after they became unnecessary encumbrances on web sites.
There's not enough detail in the article to see if they've grown out of that phase, but it would still suprise me if they actually made these bits of "cultural history" freely available in a straightforward way.
In recent years, the BL have worked closely with Wikipedians to share media under free/ open licences, including over a million images on Flickr Commons, and releasing audio recordings of birds, to which they own the copyright. I've worked with them on both projects. They also employed a Wikipedian in Residence for a year, and generously hosted a Wikipedia conference and other Wikipedia events.
The maps are from the 1600's, yet in the article's main photo, it clearly shows both library officials and visitors touching it with their bare (oily, and slightly acidic) hands.
There's a reason historical documents and old paintings are usually handled with gloves on...
> In general we do not use or provide
white gloves for use with collection
items. Clean dry hands, free from
creams and lotions, are preferable in
the majority of circumstances.
Wearing cotton gloves when handling
books, manuscripts or fragile paper
items reduces manual dexterity and
the sense of touch, increasing the
tendency to 'grab' at items. The cotton
fibres may lift or dislodge pigments
and inks from the surface of pages
and the textile can snag on page
edges making them difficult to turn. All these factors increase the risk of damage to collection items.
