One fruitful offshoot: They established the Eccles Centre for American Studies at the British Library.

FORBES: Fact and Comment

Jamie Andrews, head of Modern Literary Manuscripts at the British Library, welcomed the acquisition.

BBC: Ballard archive saved for nation

Below are the full translations of the relevant clauses from the 1215 copy of the Magna Carta held at the British Library.

BBC: Magazine

Speaking at the inaugural Reading Agency Lecture at the British Library, Winterson suggested the cost could be met by Google, Amazon and Starbucks.

BBC: Jeanette Winterson calls for library expansion

Among the other academicians named at Wednesday's announcement at the British Library in London are AS Byatt, JM Coetzee, Sebastian Faulks, Mark Haddon, David Mitchell, Zadie Smith and Jeanette Winterson.

BBC: Folio Prize seeks to make mark on literary landscape

It operates through a partnership among the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia, the Simon Fraser University Library, the School of Education at Stanford University, and the Canadian Centre for Studies in Publishing at Simon Fraser University.

UNESCO: Global Open Access Portal

As for the Thatcher museum and library, this is a characteristically egotistical Thatcherite project at odds with British tradition.

FORBES: Thatcher's Last Wish: Another Clunker From The Iron Lady