Ghent University Library Partners with Google

The latest partner in Google’s Library Book Project is Ghent University, Belgium. This is the fifteenth library to partner with Google in this initiative and the sixth from Europe. The other European libraries are: Bavarian State Library, The National Library of Catalonia, Oxford University, University Complutense of Madrid, University Library of Lausanne.

From Ghent University's press release:

Ghent, Belgium – May 23, 2007: Ghent University announced today that it has joined Google’s Library Project. Working in partnership, Google will digitize the Booktower’s out-of-copyright books – bringing some of the greatest works of Dutch and French literature to millions of people globally.

As one of Belgium’s largest libraries, the Ghent University Library will greatly increase the number of Dutch and French-language books available through the Google Book Search Library Project. Through this partnership, hundreds and thousands of books will be added to the program, from well-loved classics to rare and special collections previously only available to those able to consult the library’s stacks.

Once the books have been digitized, it will be easy for anyone to discover, search and read them on the Google Book Search™ service. The library’s collection also includes numerous out-of-copyright works in German, Latin, Italian, English, Spanish, further enriching Google’s multilingual index and bringing more books, in more languages, to more people around the world.

The partnership with the Google Library Project is the result of an ICT-mission from the Flemish Minister of Science and Innovation Fientje Moerman in which the Interdisciplinary institute for BroadBand Technology (IBBT) participated. . . . MORE