2011-06-21

Google To Digitize 250,000 British Library Books

Although Google has halted its own newspaper scanning project, the tech giant is still working to make books available freely online. The company announced Monday that it is working to digitize some 250,000 out-of-copyright volumes from the vast holdings of the British Library.

Scanned items, which will be selected by the British Library and handled (as well as paid for) by Google, will be made available for free at books.google.co.uk and the British Librarys website. Users can download and read items through Google Books, as well as conduct full-text searches.

The 250,000 works will include books, pamphlets and periodicals dated between 1700 and 1870, spanning major events such as the French and Industrial revolutions, the Crimean War, the invention of train travel and the end of slavery, the British Library said in a statement.

Google has partnered with more than 40 libraries on similar projects.

More information: http://pressandpolicy.bl.uk/Press-Releases/The-British-Library-and-Google-to-make-250-000-books-available-to-all-4fc.aspx