[WEB4LIB] Google a la francaise

[Kevil, L H.]

Here's a link to an article in the Nouvel Observateur on this subject:

http://permanent.nouvelobs.com/multimedia/20050317.OBS1429.html

It is interesting in that it quotes Vabres as saying that the project is not anti-Google, but intended to digitize the "European cultural heritage" in conjunction with the great European libraries. He mentions a peer-to-peer network for sharing.

I see several ironies here. First, I believe (but am not positive) that Google approached some of the great French libraries and was rebuffed. The Bibliotheque Nationale has its own digitization project, called Gallica. (They claim 80,000 works already - I like Gallica a lot.) But the national budget for digitization is all of 15,000,000 euros. The greatest irony is that while we Americans acknowledge our European roots and intend to digitize works in all languages, the French continue to claim - implicitly at least - that there is some kind of divide between European and American cultural heritage. I suspect the divide is more between their command-and-control ideal for government and the free market, best represented by the Internet, which so far is free of government control (though the UN has plans for a takeover.) If the French were to cooperate with Google to avoid duplication, then we would all applaud their effort to make their culture available to the world.

Hunter

L. Hunter KEVIL
Collection Development Librarian
University of Missouri-Columbia
Columbia, Missouri 65201

KevilL at missouri.edu
573-884-8760

Knowledge is one of the few things that can be given to others without reducing the amount you have left. (Thomas Sowell)


-----Original Message-----
From: web4lib at webjunction.org
[mailto:web4lib at webjunction.org]On Behalf Of Sloan, Bernie
Sent: Thursday, March 31, 2005 2:47 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: [WEB4LIB] Google a la francaise


Another piece on France's reaction to Google's book digitization
project, from the March 31 issue of the Economist:

http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3819169 

Bernie Sloan
Senior Library Information Systems Consultant, ILCSO
University of Illinois Office for Planning and Budgeting
616 E. Green Street, Suite 213
Champaign, IL  61820

Phone: (217) 333-4895
Fax:   (217) 265-0454
E-mail: bernies at uillinois.edu