The Bookseller.com

30th August 2008

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Lyon says Google rival 'too slow'

17.07.08 Barbara Casassus

France's second largest library has crticised the national book digitisation effort after becoming France’s first library to jump into bed with rival Google. A spokesman for the library told The Bookseller, that the Bibliothèque Nationale de France project was moving too slowly.

The spokesman said: "The BnF project is very long term. It is not very advanced and is progressing very slowly."

Google will digitise free of charge between 450,000 and 500,000 non-copyrighted books over the next 10 years, at a cost estimated by French newspaper Le Monde at €60m (£47.7m).

But fears that Google could ride rough-shod over the national project have been played down in France. In an interview with AFP, BnF president Bruno Racine said: "There is no reason to fear that the agreement between Lyon and Google will compromise the French project. If I have one wish, it is that the data digitised (by Google) will one day be transmitted to the European Digital Library."

About 100 French publishers are taking part in the BnF's Gallica 2 project to digitise copyrighted books, with more publishers expected to join soon.

International Barbara Casassus Google France Lyon