The Libraries of Harvard, Stanford, the University of Michigan, the University of Oxford, and The New York Public Library Join with Google to Digitally Scan Library Books and Make Them Searchable Online
LONDON - December 14, 2004 - As part of its effort
to make offline information searchable online, Google Inc. (NASDAQ:
GOOG) today announced that it is working with the libraries of Harvard,
Stanford, the University of Michigan, and the University of Oxford
as well as The New York Public Library to digitally scan books from
their collections so that users worldwide can search them in Google.
"Even before we started Google, we dreamed of making the incredible breadth of
information that librarians so lovingly organise searchable online," said Larry
Page, Google co-founder and president of Products. "Today we are pleased to announce
this programme to digitise the collections of these amazing libraries so that
every Google user can search them instantly.
"Our work with libraries further enhances the existing Google Print programme,
which enables users to find matches within the full text of books, while publishers
and authors monetise that information," Page added. "Google's mission is to organise
the world's information, and we are excited to be working with libraries to help
make this mission a reality."
Today's announcement is an expansion of the Google Print™ program,
which assists publishers in making books and other offline information
searchable online. Google is now working with libraries to digitally
scan books from their collections, and over time will integrate this
content into the Google index, to make it searchable for users worldwide.
Reg Carr, Director of Oxford University Library Services, said "Making
the wealth of knowledge accumulated in the Bodleian Library's historic
collections accessible to as many people as possible is at the heart
of Oxford University's commitment to lifelong learning. Oxford is therefore
proud to be part of this effort to make information available to everyone
who might benefit from it.
"The Bodleian's 19th century collections, which include many out-of-print titles
which otherwise would be incredibly hard to find, will be scanned as part of
the Google Print programme. We hope that Oxford's contribution to this project
will be of scholarly use, as well as general interest, to people around the world," said
Carr.
"We believe passionately that such universal access to the world's printed treasures
is mission-critical for today's great public university," said Mary Sue Coleman,
President of the University of Michigan.
For publishers and authors, this expansion of the Google Print programme
will increase the visibility of in and out of print books, and generate
book sales via "Buy this Book" links and advertising. For users, Google's
library programme will make it possible to search across library collections
including out of print books and titles that were not previously available
anywhere but on a library shelf.
Users searching with Google will see links in their search results
page when there are books relevant to their query. Clicking on a title
delivers a Google Print page where users can browse the full text of
public domain works and brief excerpts and/or bibliographic data of
copyrighted material. Library content will be displayed in keeping
with copyright law. For more information and examples, please visit http://print.google.com/library.
About Google Inc.
Google's innovative search technologies connect millions of people
around the world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford
Ph.D. students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web
property in all major global markets. Google's targeted advertising
program, which is the largest and fastest growing in the industry,
provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while enhancing
the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered in Silicon
Valley with offices throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. For
more information, visit www.google.com.
About the Bodleian Library, Oxford University
The Bodleian Library, Oxford University's principal research library,
was first opened to readers in 1602. Together with its dependent libraries,
the Bodleian holds over eight million books on shelving measuring more
than 120 miles. In England it is second in size only to the British
Library. It has effectively been a legal deposit library for nearly
400 years and as such can claim a copy of every book and periodical
published in the UK and Ireland. Oxford is actively involved in developing
electronic information provision, including electronic text archives
and image databases. The University is a leader in the digitisation
of manuscripts and other library material. More information about the
Bodleian Library is available at: www.bodley.ox.ac.uk.
