In 2004, LEARN was created when Texas research institutions and health science centers reached a consensus on a shared vision that it was strategically important to create an organization dedicated to high performance networking in Texas.
LEARN was enabled by the Texas Legislature via SB1771 in Legislative Session 78, House Bill 7, and supported by the Governor, Lt. Governor, and Speaker of the House, to help build a high speed, advanced fiber optic network for research, education, healthcare, and their non-profit partners to serve the State of Texas.
In the years since, LEARN has become a vital and trusted partner empowering its members to execute their missions through technology and collaboration.
LEARN's Vision: LEARN will be the most efficient and effective enabler of research, education, healthcare, and public service communities in Texas using technology and shared services.
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The Riley Digitization Center of the Baylor University Library has digitized over 400 terabytes of music, newspapers, athletics materials, scores, maps, historic notebooks and other materials relevant to the Baylor community and to researchers. While these materials are available locally through digitalcollections.baylor.edu, the "dark archive" of this data resides with the Texas Digital Library (TDL) for safekeeping. The LEARN network transports this massive amount of data from Baylor to the TDL.
One of these digital collections is a rare atlas, originally published in 1895, containing 175 plates that detail the history of the Civil War. This invaluable historical resource is in the holdings of The Texas Collection at Baylor University, but is also shared online with the world as part of Baylor's digital collections. The U.S. Marine Corps Command and Staff College in Quantico, Virginia recently used these maps to conduct a training exercise based on Major General McClellan's 1862 Peninsula Campaign to enhance the military planning skills of field officers from all branches of the United States military.
The LEARN network will continue to play a key role as Baylor and other LEARN members continue their efforts of converting historically important records to a digital format. These important efforts will allow these treasures to be shared and enjoyed by people around the world and to be preserved digitally for future generations.