[WEB4LIB] RE: Library News from Google ... *and* UM!

[Tito Sierra]

 From the Chronicle article:
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  "We [UM] have been working on this for a couple of years, and it's 
amazing that we've been able to keep it under wraps," said John P. 
Wilkin, an associate university librarian, in an interview Monday. He 
said that after more than a year of negotiations, Google and the 
university had finally agreed to start digitizing books last spring.

Since then, thousands of books have been digitized at the university 
through a machine owned and operated by Google. Mr. Wilkin would not 
describe the device, other than to say that it works very quickly. 
"I've seen them whip through the book as fast as turning the pages," he 
said. He expects that it will take about six years to digitize all 
seven million volumes in Michigan's collection.
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A quick calculation using the figures above suggests an average scan 
rate of 3200 volumes per day (assuming 365 days/year for 6 years) at 
the University of Michigan site alone.

I am very curious about the process that enables this level of 
throughput.

Tito Sierra
Digital Library Initiatives
North Carolina State University