JWL.Freakwitch.net

Information wants to be googled

This looks very cool:

In the coming months, Google will collaborate with Harvard's libraries on a pilot project to digitize a substantial number of the 15 million volumes held in the University's extensive library system. Google will provide online access to the full text of those works that are in the public domain. In related agreements, Google will launch similar projects with Oxford, Stanford, the University of Michigan, and the New York Public Library.

The beginning of complete digitization of information, perhaps? Harvard's library is 2nd only to the Library of Congress in terms of number of books contained. I can't imagine the labor involved in this process.

Though it's important to note that this will only be the case for books written before about 1920, since very few books published since then are actually in the public domain, Creative Commons stuff notwithstanding.

posted by JWL at 3:28 PM |