Digitize the LOC, too?
Daniel Schuman
December 15, 2009
France to Digitize Its Own Literary Works
PARIS — President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged nearly $1.1 billion on Monday toward the computer scanning of French literary works, audiovisual archives and historical documents, an announcement that underscored his government’s desire to maintain control over France’s cultural heritage in an era of digitization.
The French National Library announced in August that it was engaged in discussions with Google over the digitization of its collections, part of a global effort by Google to digitize the world’s literary works. This provoked an uproar among French officials and the publishing community here, and the discussions were suspended.
“We won’t let ourselves be stripped of our heritage to the benefit of a big company, no matter how friendly, big or American it is,” Mr. Sarkozy said last week, apparently in a reference to Google.
The money pledged Monday will finance a public-private partnership that will digitize the nation’s cultural works, Mr. Sarkozy said. Yet that partnership might well involve Google.
* * * *He put the cost of digitizing the National Library’s collections, which include over 14 million books and several million other documents, at more than $1.5 billion.
* * * *
The $1.1 billion pledged by Mr. Sarkozy is part of a $51 billion stimulus package, announced Monday, aimed primarily at French universities, researchers, manufacturers and telecommunications companies. France will finance the investments largely through government borrowing, against the urgings of the European Union and the country’s own audit authority. France’s debt and deficit are currently at record levels.