N.Y. Library Is Part Of Google’s Launch Of Web Reading Room
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
SAN FRANCISCO – Google Inc. is trying to establish an online reading room for five major libraries by scanning stacks of hard-to-find books into its widely used Internet search engine.
The ambitious initiative announced yesterday gives the company the right to index material from the New York Public Library as well as libraries at four universities: Harvard, Stanford, Michigan, and Oxford in England. The Michigan and Stanford libraries are the only two so far to agree to submit all their material to Google’s scanners.
The New York library is allowing Google to include a small portion of its books no longer covered by copyright, while Harvard is confining its participation to 40,000 volumes. Oxford wants Google to scan all its books originally published before 1901.
“It’s a significant opportunity to bring our material to the rest of the world,” said Paul LeClerc, president of the New York Public Library. “It could solve an old problem: If people can’t get to us, how can we get to them?”
