Google library project - Enlightened and exciting

Google’s plans to include in its database the full text of five of the world’s leading libraries is potentially the most exciting development since the advent of the printing press.

The venture envisages copying all of the texts of works out of copyright.

As part of the project, which began nearly five years ago, Google aims to create a digital archive of all extant books from libraries in various countries in order to gather in one place as much of the world’s literature as possible.

Somebody using the Google search engine would be able to browse the full text of material out of copyright. The project will also include books that are copyright protected, but searchers would only be able to read a few sentences of text relevant to the search term in those books. This has raised alarm among publishers.

But Google has sought to win publisher support with its Partner Programme, inviting publishers controlling the rights of a book to authorise Google to scan the full text into its database. Somebody using the search engine would receive a link to the relevant text and, by clicking the link, could obtain a sample of the material, along with links to enable the user to purchase the work from booksellers or the publisher directly.

This would afford a form of promotion for such books. It would also be an invaluable research tool, especially in relation to books that are difficult to locate.

Children tend to be proficient users of the internet, and this could greatly encourage them to broaden their reading. If it were only on those grounds alone, the project should be warmly welcomed, but there are also millions of other good reasons for doing so.