[Sigia-l] Just FYI - Library Discussion On Google Print, Google Scholar

[Listera]

William Quimby:

> Particularly revealing is the argument from France
> that if France (and other countries) do not soon
> develop comparable plans the new "world library"
> will be English only.

Which of course would be a shame.

(Incidentally, this weekend I saw Godard's fabulous "Masculin Féminin" for
the third time. 40 years later, the French cultural attitudes remain
virtually the same. Some of the dialogs sounded as if written just a couple
of years ago. Three cheers for uniformité. :-)

If I recall correctly, the business model for Google Print, like many things
out of Google Labs, is still up in the air. For example, Google is paying
for scanning and indexing 40,000 titles at Harvard, but hasn't signed an
agreement to split revenue. Likely model is advertising (think AdSense). If
that's the case, then the pull of the content, in French or Swahili, would
dictate priority. The French could, of course, partner with Google and
French governments have always been good in starting national initiatives.
Hopefully, they won't do another Minitel. :-)

Ziya
Nullius in Verba